Firey Wings of Ice
by Awesome Rapidash
Summary: Stef, Jas, and Hiro continue on their journey through the Savannah Region. Stef faces a new and powerful opponent. How will she handle this new challenge? Read and find out. Chapter 9 is now up!
1. My First Pokemon

_This story is being co-written by__** Awesome Rapidash **__and__** Momo-chan12. **_

_This story unfolds in a newly discovered region of the Pokemon world, the Savannah Region. _

Words in _(Italics)_ represent the loose translation of a Pokemon's speech or thoughts.

_Disclaimer: _Nether one of us own Pokemon. Nintendo and Gamefreak do. We do however own Stephanie Nanami and Jasmine Haruna.

_**Prologue: Welcome to the Savannah Region. **_

This region is located midway between the Johto and Orre regions. It is a beautiful area featuring all sorts of terrain, ranging from flat grassy prairies to tall snow capped mountain ranges. Along the regions southern edge is an ocean. The region features all sorts of Pokemon some that are widely available and some that are specific only to that region. It is these Pokemon that draw the biggest number of trainers to the area.

There are 10 major towns in the Savannah Region, all have Pokemon gyms. There are many smaller towns along the routes connecting the major cities. In terms of population the region has an average population level.

This story begins in Glacier City, a town located at the base of the Cascadian Mountain range in the northern section of the region. 16 year old Stephanie Nanami has waited for this day since she first began to marvel at the world of Pokemon. Today is her birthday, and she would be receiving a very special gift, her very first Pokemon. Along with her best friend Jasmine Haruna, she will trek across the region, challenging trainers and gym leaders, all in her quest to be the best!

_**Chapter 1: My First Pokemon**_

_Pika Pika Pikachu! Pika Pika Pikachu!_

I rolled over and brought my hand down on the snooze button, silencing my electric mouse shaped alarm clock.

A glance at the time revealed that it was 6:00 AM. "_Why did I set the clock so early_?" I mused to myself.

I felt the warm sunlight dance across me as I lay in me bed and it dawned on me why, today was my birthday. It was also the day I'd waited for, for today I would finally turn 16, and I would finally be able to begin my Pokemon journey.

I got up slowly, trading the soft comfort of my bed for the cool air of my room. As I did so, I heard footsteps approach outside my door followed by someone knocking.

"Hey Stef, are you up yet?" My Mom's voice called from outside the door.

"Yeah Mom, I'm awake." I answered back.

"Okay, breakfast will be ready soon, come down when you're ready." She replied.

I rubbed the sleep out of my sea green eyes and headed towards the shower. "I guess I should enjoy this." I said aloud. "It might be awhile before I get another." I mused while thinking about life on the road.

After finishing my shower I walked over to the mirror and stared at the image reflected back at me. I laughed to myself as I ran my hand through my shoulder length dark brown hair. _"I wonder how it would look if l grew it out a bit."_ I pondered to my self curiously as I brushed it out.

I walk over to my dresser and take out a light blue tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans. After getting dressed I head down stairs for breakfast.

"Good morning birthday girl!" My Mom greets me happily as I walk into the kitchen.

"Good morning Mom." I reply as I sit down at the table.

"Eat up sweetie; Professor Maple is waiting for you." My Mom says as she places my breakfast in front of me.

I look at it hungrily before attacking my eggs and toast. As I finish my juice I turn to my Mom, who is finishing her own eggs. "Mmm… thanks for cooking." I say happily. "I'm really gonna miss your cooking while I'm gone."

My Mom's expression turns a little sad as I finish. "I'm going to miss cooking for you too Stef." She adds softly.

After finishing my breakfast I head back up to my room to finish packing. I immediately regretted having eaten so fast, my stomach grumbling loudly in protest. _"Or could it just nerves"_ I wondered thoughtfully. A smile crosses my face as I anticipate what was to come later today.

Once back in my room I finished packing my backpack as I did I paused and took a look around my room. I would be a different person the next time I returned here, a Pokemon trainer. Again a smile lights up my face as I tuned off the light, closed the door to my room and walked down stairs.

"Here's my birthday girl." My Dad says happily as I walked into the living room.

"Dad, you're here?" I question curiously. "Why aren't you at work?"

"And miss such an important day in my daughter's life." He began happily. "Mr. Smith can wait till tomorrow to get those reports." He adds with a bright smile.

"Thanks Dad." I replied happily. "Will you walk with me over to Professor Maple's lab?"

"You bet I will!" He replies happily. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Mind if I join you too?" My Mom asked hopefully.

"Mom, of course you can join us!" I replied happily.

"But before we go here's your birthday present from us." My Mom said as she hands me a brightly wrapped package. "Go ahead and open it."

It takes me a few moments to unwrap the box. I open to reveal the present inside, a beautiful gold necklace with a silver Ponyta pendant.

"It's beautiful!" I exclaimed happily. "Thanks you guys." I add as I happily hug them.

"You're welcome sweetheart." My Mom replied. "Come on, I'll help you put it on."

"We know how much you like fire type Pokemon." My Dad adds. "We're glad you like it."

I looked down and admired it as my Mom stepped back. "It's really pretty." I say happily.

After thanking them again we left the house and headed over to Professor Maple's lab. We walked and it took us around 15 minutes to get there.

"Well, hear we are." My Dad begins proudly. "Now go inside and get your new partner."

"Yes sweetheart, go on." My Mom adds with a smile.

As I walked up to the door I felt my nerves begin the tingle. I opened the door and walked inside, noticing the room was empty I walked over to the receptionist.

"Welcome to the Glacier City Pokemon Research Lab." She greets me as I approach. "Are you here to receive your starter Pokemon?"

"Yes I am." I reply nervously.

"What is your name please?" She queried.

"Stephanie Nanami." I answer.

She turns her attention back to the computer in front of her and enters my name into it. After a few nerve racking minutes she finally looks back up at me and smiles.

"OK Miss Nanami, Professor Maple will see you right away." She begins. "Please go through these doors and then to the second room on the left. The professor is waiting for you there."

"Thank you." I replied as I opened the door and walked through.

I walked down the hall and entered the second room on the left as instructed, sure enough there was the Professor inspecting some sort of machine as I entered.

"Umm… Professor Maple." I began hesitantly. "I'm here to receive my starter Pokemon."

He stopped working on the machine and turned to look at me. "Ah, yes Miss Nanami." He begins. "You're here right on time." He adds glancing at his watch.

"Please come over here." He says, motioning me to join him as he walks over to his computer.

Once there he takes a seat in front of a large computer screen. "Well Miss Nanami, let's get started then shall we." He says smiling.

The Professor types some information into his machine and hits the enter button. It takes his computer a few moments to find my information. "OK, so you'd like a fire type, correct? He asks curiously.

"Yes I would." I answer. "I'd like a Ponyta if possible." I add as I caress the silver Pokemon hanging from my neck.

Professor Maple enters my request into his computer and once again hits the enter key.

"It's all set." He says plainly. "Please come over here." He adds, getting up and walking over to a rack containing Poke balls.

He reaches in and removes one. Then walks over to another machine he places the Poke ball in a small three legged stand.

"You're in luck Miss Nanami, I have several fire types and one is a Ponyta." He says with a smile.

My eyes light up as I realize that I'm going to receive my favorite Pokemon as my starter!

"Thank you Professor!" I exclaim happily.

"Sure, it's no problem at all." He replies. "I am a bit curious though, since most trainers from here wish to start with an ice type Pokemon."

"I'm not sure why but I've always loved the fire type." I reply nervously.

"Well then, I have your Pokemon right here." He begins. "I'll enter its data into your Pokedex and you'll be all set."

He takes the Poke ball and connects it to his computer. "Now I'll record your partner's information." He says as he begins to type.

There was a brief flash and some movement from the Poke ball currently sitting on the desk next to the Professor.

"Hmm… I see." He begins reading the information displayed on the monitor in front of him. "Your Ponyta is female, currently at level 6 and in good health. She knows the following attacks: tackle, growl, and tail whip." He explains plainly.

"Would you like to give your new partner a nickname?" He queried curiously.

"Yes, I would." I replied. "Her nickname is Wildfire."

"That's a nice name." He replies and enters it into the computer.

Once again there was a momentary flash of light around the Poke ball.

"Alright, everything is complete" He says as he disconnects Wildfire's Poke ball. "Wildfire is all ready to go."

He gets up, turns to me he hands me Wildfire's Poke ball.

As I feel the warmth of Wildfire's Poke ball in my hands a huge smile lights up my face.

"Take good care of her." He adds. "Before you go, please see my aide in the next room; he has some important information for you."

"Thank you Professor." I say happily and turn and walk towards the door.

"You're welcome and good luck." He replies with a wave.

I return the wave as I walk out.

Walking over to the next room I find the Professor's aide waiting for me.

"Hello Miss Nanami, please come in and have a seat." He greets me as I walk inside.

I do as instructed and take a seat in front of his desk.

"Alright this process will only take a few minutes." He begins. "Basically I'll explain how to use your Pokedex."

The instruction takes around 20 minutes and covered the use of the newest version of the Pokedex as well as how to use the different types of Poke balls.

"Thank you for your patience that concludes everything." He says as he hands me my Pokedex as well as 6 empty Poke balls. "Please be safe on your journey." He adds with a smile.

I walk back to the reception area and pause a moment before walking outside. _"This is it!" _I thought happily. _"I'm really beginning my journey."_

I smile proudly as I walk towards the door.

"Good luck on your journey." The receptionist adds as I walk towards the exit.

"Thank you." I reply pushing the door open and walking out.

I walk quickly over to where my parents had been waiting.

"So how'd it go?" My Dad questions curiously.

I hold out Wildfire's Poke ball. "I got a Ponyta!" I reply happily. "Would you like to see her?"

"We sure would!" My Mom replies in an excited voice.

I take Wildfire's Poke ball and toss it into the air. "Wildfire, I choose you!" I shout.

There is a bluish green flash of light which momentarily blinds us. When our vision returns there before our eyes is my beautiful Ponyta.

"She's beautiful!" My Mom says as she admires Wildfire's fiery mane.

"You two will make an unstoppable team." My Dad adds with a smile.

I return Wildfire and pick up my back pack. Smiling I look over to my parents.

"We're so happy for you." My Mom begins. "I guess you'll be leaving on your journey now." She adds softly.

"You bet I will!" I reply happily. "We're gonna be the best!"

"Well you're gonna have to get past me first." A voice from behind me laughed sarcastically.

I turn around quickly and find my best friend Jasmine standing there smiling.

"So you did get a fire type." She asks curiously as she walks over to me.

I nod my head yes.

"Well, it'll never stand a chance against my Seel." She adds sarcastically.

"Oh yeah!" I shot back angrily. "I bet we can defeat you in less than 5 minutes."

"Come on girls." My Mom says stepping between us. "Save your energy for your journey."

"You're right Mrs. Nanami." Jas says in agreement. "Well if you're going on a Pokemon journey I should go with to make sure you stay out of trouble." Jas quips playfully.

"I don't need your help to stay out of trouble." I retort loudly "But it would be nice to have someone to talk to."

"It's settled then." Jas began. "Let's hit the road together!"

"Sounds like a plan to me." I agree happily.

I walk over to my parents and face them. "Good by Mom, Dad." I begin, trying hard not to cry but failing miserably. "Thank you for coming here with me today."

"It was no trouble sweetheart." My Mom replies tears welling in her eyes. "We'll miss you."

"I'll miss Dad and you too." I reply, tears falling from my eyes.

"Go on now!" My Dad adds happily. "The world is waiting for you."

After one last hug and kiss from my folks I turn to Jas. "Let's go!" I say in an excited tone.

Together Jas and I headed out of town and towards our future as Pokemon trainers.

"Good-by Mr. & Mrs. Nanami." Jasmine began as we walked away. "Don't worry we'll take care of each other!"

We waved until my parents were out of sight.

"Come on Stef, let's go!" Jas said excitedly pulling me down the road.

"OK, OK I'm coming already." I reply happily.

As we headed down the road I was full of anticipation and determined to be the best.

_First chapter done! What did you think of our story? Please leave a review and let Momo-chan and I know what you think. Thanks! _


	2. The Road to Crystal City

**_Thank you to BlackRainWillFall for being the first one to review us! We appreciate hearing what you have to say. _**

_**Thanks to my Co-author Momo-chan12 for all your help! **_

Words _(in italics)_ are the loose translations of a Pokemon's thoughts or speech.

As always nether of us owns Pokemon. They belong to Nintendo and Gamefreak.

With that out of the way it's on with the show!

**_Chapter 2: The Road to Crystal City_**

"Come On Stef!" Jas urged as we headed down the road towards Crystal City. "What's taking you so long?"

"I thought I saw a Pokemon in the grass and wanted to take a look." I replied. "Guess it was nothing."

"There's supposed to be a lot of Pokemon along this route." Jas replied. "I hope we can catch some before we get to Crystal City."

"Yeah I can't wait to see Wildfire in action." I added excitedly.

"Well I'd be happy to challenge you." A voice behind the girls queried.

Both spun around to find a Pokemon trainer and his Oddish looking as though they're ready for battle.

"So, which one of you would like the opportunity to loose first?" He questioned sarcastically.

Taking out my Pokedex I point it at the grass Pokemon.

"Oddish, a grass type Pokemon. Male, currently at level 5 and in good health. Status is currently OK."

"A grass type eh." I begin. "You're mine! Wildfire, I choose you!"

A moment later my Ponyta partner appears. She immediately takes up a defensive posture.

Jasmine's Pokedex records her friends Pokemon.

"Ponyta, the fire horse Pokemon. Female, currently at level 6 and in good health. Her current status is OK."

"OK, then lets stop this chit chat and battle." He replies. "Oddish use sweet scent!"

"Dodge it and use tackle!" I shout to Wildfire.

Both Pokemon are able to dodge the attacks and square off for the next barrage.

'Use tackle again!" I command.

"Oddish, take it down with your razor leaf attack!" The trainer shouts to his Pokemon.

"Alright this is your chance Stef." Jas cheered. "Razor leaf isn't very effective against a fire type Pokemon.

Realizing his error the Oddish's trainer tries to recall his Pokemon. However it has already begun to launch the attack and is unable to stop.

Wildfire takes the attack head on, only suffering very mild damage in the process. Her tackle attack hits the Oddish with such force that the small Pokemon is tossed back several feet. Landing on its back, it doesn't get up.

"Yeah, we won!" I cheer and happily hug Wildfire. "You were amazing." I add as I stroke the fire horse's blazing mane.

"_(I had fun, let's do it again)"_ Wildfire whinnies happily.

"Ah, you just got lucky." The Oddish's trainer replied in an annoyed tone. "Anyway here." He adds, tossing two 10 dollar bills at me for the loss. After that he turns and walks away.

"That was an awesome battle!" Jas says to her friend. "Guess Kanna and I will have to watch out for you if we battle."

"You bet you do!" I reply proudly. "We'd kick your butt in a battle."

"What's that supposed to mean?" My friend replies sounding a bit angry. "You wanna go now! Come on Nanami, put up or shut up!"

We are about to battle when another trainer walks up to us.

"Did I hear correctly?" He begins. "Is someone looking for a battle?"

"Yes, I am." Jas replies loudly. "You wanna challenge me?"

"Of course I do, why would you think I'd ask." He replies plainly.

"Alright then." Jas begins. "It's our turn now Kanna, I choose you!" Jas says throwing her partners Poke ball.

A burst of bright light and Jasmine's Seel appears in front of her.

"Seel, seel!" _(I'm ready to go!)_ Kanna coos.

I record Jas's Seel in my Pokedex.

"Seel, an ice type Pokemon. Female, currently at level 6 and in good health. Current status is OK."

"Well then, please let me introduce you to my Pokemon." He begins. "By the way my name is Jeff and I train rock type Pokemon. So please help me to welcome my Onix!

Jeff throws a Poke ball and in a flash the large rock snake Pokemon is ready to battle Kanna.

"Don't let the size intimidate you." Jas encourages her partner. "Let's begin with aurora beam!"

"Hmm… this is gonna be good." I muse to myself.

"Seel seel!" _(Coming up partner!)_ Kanna replies as she fires off her attack.

Kanna's attack hits the rock snake but the resulting damage isn't as much as Jas had hoped for.

"It's our turn now." Jeff begins. "OK Onix, use a bind attack on that Seel!"

Jeff's Onix grabs Kanna with its tail and begins to squeeze.

"Seel Seel!" _(This hurts!)_ Kanna shrieks as the Onix wraps her tighter.

"Come on Kanna!" I shout to my friends Pokemon. "You can bet him!"

Jas turns and looks at me momentarily, and I give her a quick "thumbs up" sign.

"Alright Kanna." Jas shouts. "Use your Icy wind attack this time!"

This time Kanna's attack does significantly more damage. Onix sharply reacts to this and inadvertently releases Kanna from its bind attack.

"What, that's not what's supposed to happen!" Jeff says as he reacts to the battle before him.

"But it did!" Jas shouts back. "Now Kanna use your Icy wind attack again, this time finish him!"

"Not so fast little girl!" Jeff shot back angrily. "Onix use tackle!"

"Oh, I know you didn't just call me a little girl." Jas retorts. "Kanna lets show that guy what girl power's all about!"

"Seel se seel!" _(You're done pal!) _Kanna growls at her opponent.

The Onix charges straight towards Kanna who stands her ground firmly. She waits until the rock Pokemon is only a few feet away before unleashing a powerful icy wind attack.

The point blank attack is devastating. Jeff's Onix reacts painfully to the onslaught, standing straight up before collapsing back to the ground in a defeated heap.

"I… I can't believe it." Jeff stammered. "How'd you do that?"

"We did it!" Jas shouts happily hugging her partner. "I knew you were a winner!"

"Well, that was a good battle indeed." Jeff replied. "I congratulate you on your victory and in accordance with proper protocol here is your reward."

Jeff hands Jas several 10 dollar bills. "If we get the chance in the future I certainly would like a rematch." He adds be fore departing.

"You two were great out there." I say as I congratulate my friend on her victory. "Guess Wildfire and I will wait a little bit before taking you on."

Jas just smiles broadly at her friends complement.

As the two continue on towards Crystal City the sun begins to set.

"It's gonna be dark soon." Jas notes with a bit of concern in her voice.

""What's the matter?" I probe. "You afraid of the dark?"

"You're kidding right?" Jas replied defensively. "I'm not the one who needed a night light till she was 14."

"Umm… about that." I begin in a slightly embarrassed tone. But before I can finish my sentence a rustling in the grass just in front of us grabs our attention.

"What was that?" Jas questions pointing in the direction of the noise.

A moment later a Pidgey hops into the pathway and before Jasmine has a chance to react I already have Wildfire's Poke ball out.

"Wildfire, go!" I shout throwing the Poke ball. A moment later my Ponyta partner materializes in front of me.

The Pidgey raises its wings in an attempt to intimidate Wildfire; the tactic fails miserably and Wildfire prepares to attack without hesitation.

"Use your tackle attack!" I command.

The small bird Pokemon reacts to the oncoming attack by using its wings to send a cloud of sand at Wildfire. The effect of the counterattack causes Wildfire to miss.

"Argh, it used a sand attack." I growl. "Wildfire, try that attack again!"

This time the attack connects and the Pidgey is knocked to the ground. After a moment it recovers and counters with a tackle attack.

"Look out Wildfire!" I shout to my partner.

The Pidgey's attack finds its mark and Wildfire reacts painfully.

_(Ahhh…. That hurt!)_ Wildfire grunts loudly.

"Hang in there Wildfire!" I shout trying to encourage my partner. "Use another tackle attack!"

The battle ends moments later as Wildfire's attack sends the bird Pokemon sailing across the path, it winds up under a bush, and it makes no attempt to counterattack.

"Poke ball go!" I shout tossing the red and white capture device at the fallen Pidgey.

The capture light blinks a couple of times and finally stops indicating a successful capture.

"Alright, I caught a Pidgey!" I exclaimed happily. "Now let's see your stats." Grabbing my Pokedex it reveals my newest teammates vital statistics.

Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokemon. Female, currently at level 5 present health, weak. Current status fainted.

"I think I'll call you Kagura." I say while looking at her Poke ball.

"Nice capture." Jas complimented me. "Now Lets hurry, I wanna get through the rest of this forest before its totally dark out."

Jas hurries on down the path leaving me behind as I try to re-gather my gear. It only takes a few minutes for us to become separated in the rapidly fading light.

"Jas, where are you!" I shout in a slightly frightened voice. "This isn't funny you know."

I peer intently into the inky black forest, the beam of my flashlight barely illuminating the path in front of me. Suddenly a loud snapping sound in front of me stops me in my tracks.

"Jas is that you?" I ask hopefully. No reply, but the sounds are getting closer and louder.

Panic starts to set in and I begin to blindly run down the trail and deeper into the inky blackness, the beam from my flashlight dancing errantly off the surrounding trees as I run.

My panicked run ends with a crash as I run headlong into something or someone? The resulting collision causes me to fall and I drop my flashlight in the process.

"Ahhh, what the hell!" A male voice shouts reacting to my collision with him.

"EEEK!" I scream and try to find my missing flashlight and get back up. "Please don't hurt me."

"Hey slow down." The guy says handing me my missing flashlight. "No ones gonna hurt anyone."

It takes me a few minutes to regain my composure. "Sorry for running into you." I say apologetically.

"What are you doing running thru the forest?" He questions. "By the way my name is Hiro." He adds extending his hand.

I accept Hiro's handshake and apologize again for running into him.

"My name is Stephanie, but you can call me Stef for short, and I was running because I thought I heard something big coming at me." I explain in a slightly embarrassed voice.

"You thought you heard something coming at you?" Hiro questions in a slightly sarcastic voice. "Of course what you probably heard was a Pokemon looking for food."

"Yeah, you're probably right." I reply. "I guess I just got a little freaked out by it, after all I don't what to be any ones dinner."

"Hey, it's no problem." Hiro laughs. "Are you traveling alone?"

"No, I was with my best friend but we got separated in the dark." I begin to explain. "At first I thought she was playing a joke on me by hiding, but now I really can't find her."

"Well I haven't seen anyone around here." Hiro replies.

"That as it may be." I begin. "Anyway, can you help me find the way out of this accursed forest?" I ask in a hopeful voice.

"Hmmm… that's a problem." Hiro began. "You're not gonna believe this but I'm lost as well."

"What!" I exclaim in disbelief. "Great, now I'll never find my way out of this damned forest."

Dejected by the discovery that he was lost as well I begin to head back up the path, attempting to retrace the way I came.

"Hey wait up!" Hiro shouts as he runs to catch her. "Maybe if we work together we can find the way out."

"I guess I have no other choice." I begin skeptically. "So which way do you think we go?"

"I got an idea that may help." Hiro begins. Then grabbing a Poke ball from his belt he tosses it, releasing a Meowth.

"Meowth use flash to light up this forest." Hiro commands.

"Meeeowth meow." _(Put on some sunglasses.)_ Hiro's Pokemon purrs.

I take a moment to scan his Pokemon with my Pokedex.

Meowth the scratch cat Pokemon. Male, level 9 and in good health. Current status is OK.

After a moment of concentration Hiro's Meowth begins to glow, brightly illuminating the surrounding forest.

"That should make traveling a little easier." Hiro chuckled.

"We can help too." I add grabbing Wildfire's Poke ball. "Come on Wildfire! Help us to find the way out of this forest."

A moment later and Wildfire is standing next to me. Her blazing mane adds to the illumination and making it even easier to follow the path.

"That's a Nice Ponyta you got there!" Hiro compliments. "Her mane is really bright."

"Thanks, your Meowth is nice too." I reply happily. "I feel much safer now that I can see what's out in front of me."

We walk a short distance down the path when a loud crashing noise off to our right grabs our attention.

"What was that?" I question in an alarmed voice. "Could it be a Pokemon? Sounds big whatever it is."

"It's probably just a Pokemon." Hiro reassures. "But just in case it isn't, Meowth light up the area over to our right."

"Meowth meowth Nyaa." _(We'll see in a minute what it is.)_ The cat Pokemon purrs.

What we see catches us by surprise. Stumbling towards us is what appears to be a mummy!

"Ahhh! What the hell is that?" I shriek pointing at the approaching figure

"How the hell do I know?" Hiro shouts. "Let's get out of hear!"

The two terrified trainers attempt to flee from the figure but it continues to gain on them. While looking over her shoulder to see where the "mummy" is Stef trips and falls. The figure is now only a few feet away and it is mumbling something unintelligible.

"Ahhh, it's gonna get me!" I cry as I try to get back up. "Stay away from me!"

More garbled mumbling from the wrapped figure.

Hiro and his Meowth step in front of the figure. "Stop right there!" He commands.

The mummy takes a couple of more steps but trips and falls flat on its face. Cautiously Hiro and I approach the fallen mummy. As we get close to the wrapped figure we discover that it's not bandages wrapping the figure but silk.

Before we can find anything else out the figure begins to struggle and try to regain its feet.

Both Hiro and I jump clear. "Meowth use scratch attack!" Hiro commands.

"Nyaa Meowth meow!" _(Let's see what you are!)_ The cat Pokemon hisses and slashes the mummy with its razor sharp claws.

Meowth's attack causes the silk to peel away exposing the person underneath it.

I recognize her immediately. Hiro on the other hand is a bit freaked out at the sight of a girl emerging from beneath the silk wrappings.

"Jasmine Haruna, what the hell are you doing scaring us like that!" I shout angrily to my friend. "That was really mean you know."

"Do you know her?" Hiro questions hesitantly.

"Yup, this is my lost friend." I reply plainly.

"It's not what you think." Jas begins to explain. "I was looking for you after we got separated and ran into this Spinarak. I guess it didn't appreciate the fact that I scared its dinner away and attacked me with string shot. You gotta believe me it was horrible!"

"It didn't do your hair any favor, that's for sure." I add sarcastically. "It's a total mess."

"Damn it and I just had it done too." Jas replies angrily. "Stupid Spinarak, I hate bug Pokemon."

"You'll have to remember to dress like that on Halloween; you make a pretty scary mummy." I tease my friend.

"I wasn't a mummy!" Jas retorts angrily. "I told you it was that dumb Pokemon's string shot attack that did that to me"

In an attempt to re-direct the topic off of her a grinning Jas takes notice of Hiro. "It was cute how your _boyfriend_ came to your rescue though."

"He's not my boyfriend!" I reply immediately feeling my face burn as I blush in embarrassment. "We only just met a little bit ago."

"Yeah, you could say we sorta ran into each other." Hiro laughs as he explains how I collided with him in the forest.

"It was still cute." Jas laughs. "And since it appears that my rude friend isn't going to properly introduce us I'm Jasmine, but call me Jas for short."

Hiro accepts her extended hand. "I'm Hiro; it's nice to meet you."

"Are you going to Crystal City too?" Jas questions. "That's we're going."

"Yup, I'm headed there too." Hiro replies. "I'm gonna challenge the gym leader there."

"Hey so are we." I add. "It'll be our first gym challenge."

"Mine too." Hiro replies. "So let's get moving shall we?"

"That sounds good to me." I reply happily. "The sooner we're out of this forest the happier I'll be."

We continue down the path with Wildfire and I in the lead. I was anxious to get out of this forest as fast as my feet would carry me. Jas, Hiro and his Meowth lag behind a bit.

"She's afraid of the dark." Jas whispers to Hiro.

I stop and take notice of the private conversation taking place between Jas and Hiro.

"Hey what are you two whispering about?" I demand.

"Oh, nothing." Jas replies as she and Hiro begin to laugh.

"I bet." I grumble and continue on down the path.

It takes about two hours for us to finally find the way out of the forest. The glowing lights of Crystal City seem to welcome us as we head towards them.

"Yeah, we finally made it!" I exclaimed happily and begin to run towards the welcoming light.

"Come on you guys!" I shout back over my shoulder at the two slowpokes behind me.

As we reached the outskirts of Crystal City I was filled with excitement. It would be here where I would put my skills to the test for the first time in a real gym battle.

_Thanks for reading all the way to the end! Please write a review and let us know how you like the story so far. Flames welcome, but please try to be constructive in your criticisms. _


	3. Welcome to Crystal City

_**Thanks to my co-author Momo-Chan12 for her support and ideas! **_

**_Thanks to Angel-of Twilight13 for your review. We really appreciate it! _**

**_Gamefreak and Nintendo own Pokemon, but we own all the characters in this story. _**

Words _(in italics)_ represent the loose translation of a Pokemon's speech or thoughts.

**_Chapter 3: Welcome to Crystal City_**

After their arrival in Crystal City Stef, Jas, and Hiro find the Pokemon center, there they get rooms and go to sleep. The following morning finds them ready to challenge what ever comes their way.

"Good morning Miss Nanami." Nurse Joy greeted me as I walked into the reception area.

"Morning Nurse Joy." I begin. "How's Wildfire?"

"Your Pokemon is all ready to go." She replies with a smile. "Will you be challenging our gym while you're here?"

"Yep, and I'm gonna win!" I reply happily.

"One thing you need to be aware of first." The Pokemon nurse begins. "In order to compete at the Crystal City gym your Pokemon must first achieve at least level 10. Your's is currently only at level 8."

"What! Why?" I question.

"Well." Nurse Joy begins. "It seems that the Natsume, the gym leader is pretty strong and in order to have some sort of chance at winning she enacted that requirement."

"So my friends can't challenger her either?" I question curiously.

"That's correct." Joy replies. "If I may suggest, try training in the areas just to the north of town. There are a great number of Pokemon in levels that would allow you and your Pokemon the opportunity for victory."

"This sucks!" I say dejectedly, walking away from the desk.

"What sucks?" Jas asks as she walks into the reception area.

"We can't battle at the gym until our Pokemon are at level 10." I explain. "I was all psyched to win and now this." I add sourly.

"Hey cheer up; it won't take us to long to get our Pokemon to level 10." Jas replies. "Anyway, I heard that there is a festival going on now in town. Why don't we check it out first?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I reply feeling a little more upbeat. 'So what's the festival about?"

"It's to honor psychic type Pokemon." Hiro replied walking up to Jas and me. "This town's gym leader is a famous psychic type Pokemon trainer, and the festival celebrates her accomplishments as well as this city's love for psychic type Pokemon."

"Sounds cool, let's go and check it out." Jas replies. "Excuse me Nurse Joy, but what time does the festival open?"

"Things at the festival usually being in the early afternoon." Nurse Joy replies. "But it really gets good after dark." She adds with a grin.

"Alright, let's go do some training and then after lunch head over to the festival." I say enthusiastically.

After Jas receives her Pokemon from Nurse Joy, she and I head towards the door.

"Hey you mind if I sorta tag along with you?" Hiro asks hopefully.

Jas and I look at each other for a moment. "Sure why not." I reply. "The more the merrier I always say!"

We head over to an area known as trainer's meadow. Arriving 10 minutes later we find ourselves at a large grassy field. Several trainers are milling about as we approach.

"Hey any of you wanna battle?" A boy asked as we walked over to the group.

"Duh, that's why we're here." I rely sarcastically. "You wanna challenge me?"

"Ha, I could bet a girl any day." He laughs. "My name's Ryo and my bug Pokemon and I are gonna smash you. Come on, let's go!"

Angered by his cocky attitude I grab Wildfire's Poke ball and throw it. "Wildfire, I choose you!"

A flash of light and my partner is ready to battle!

"It's my turn now." Ryo announces proudly. "Go Beautifly!"

I use my Pokedex to check out my opponent.

"Beautifly, a dual type Pokemon. Types bug, and flying. Currently at Level 10 and in good health. Status is OK.

"OK Wildfire, let's get things going!" I say in an excited voice. "Use your tackle attack!"

'Dodge it and counter with string shot!" Ryo shouts to his Pokemon.

Wildfire has an agility advantage; this allows her to dodge the string shot attack and still land her attack on target. Ryo's Beautifly is hurt but far from out.

"Use string shot again!" He commands angrily.

"Keep using tackle!" I shout to my Pokemon partner. 'You're faster than him."

_(Coming right up partner!)_ Wildfire whinnies in reply.

The Beautifly's string shot attack partially hits Wildfire causing her to stumble and slow down a bit.

"Now Beautifly, use tackle!" He shouts to his partner.

This time Wildfire is not fast enough to dodge the attack. Instead she bears the full brunt of it.

_(Ahhh, that hurts!)_ She grunts in pain.

"Just one more time!" I shout in encouragement.

"Your Pokemon is weak." Ryo chuckled sarcastically. "I knew this would be easy, girls are not suited to be good trainers"

Once again I was filled with anger. "Show him what we're capable of!" I shout to Wildfire. "Give him a good taste of girl power!"

Wildfire took up an offensive posture and much to my surprise fired off an ember attack!

"Alright you learned ember!" I shouted happily.

The attack hit the bug Pokemon and it fainted almost immediately.

"But, but…. How is that possible?" Ryo gasped, obviously in shock at the loss.

"Never underestimate the power of a girl!" I reply proudly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He replies. "Here's your prize." He adds while handing me several 10 dollar bills.

While I was busy battling, Hiro had also found a challenger. His battle finished just moments before mine did.

"Congrads on your win!" He says as he walks over to me. "That battle was enough to boost my Meowth to level 10 so now I can challenge Natsume."

"You guys are gonna challenge Natsume?' A girl with long blonde hair questioned as she looked at us.

"You bet we are, just as soon as we get out Pokemon to level 10." Jas replied.

"How about trying your skills out on me?" She questions. "Call it a pretest of sorts."

"It's my turn now." Jas says stepping forward. "My name is Jasmine and I'll be happy to battle you."

"My names Cami and I must warn you this will not be easy." She replies with a slight smile.

"Come on out Kanna!" Jas shouts as she throws Kanna's Poke ball.

"Seel seel se!" _(Let's get it on!)_

"And now for our side." Cami announces. 'Skitty, I choose you!"

As both Pokemon square each other up their respective trainers get ready to attack.

"OK Skitty, start things off with your doubleslap attack!" Cami shouts to her Pokemon.

"Kanna, dodge it and counter with aurora beam!" Jas shouts to her partner.

Both attacks connect but the damage to the Pokemon I minimal.

"You can do better than that!" Cami shouted to her Pokemon. "Use your tackle attack this time!"

"It's time to kick it up a notch!" Jas shouts to Kanna. "Counter that tackle attack with a head butt!"

Again the attacks connect but the result leaves no clear cut leader. This continues for two more rounds.

"This is getting boring." Cami complained. "Finish her pathetic partner with your doubleslap attack."

"Seel seel see!"_(Who are you calling pathetic!)_ Kanna growled angrily.

"Use your aurora beam now!" Jas commanded!

Both Pokemon charge towards their opponent with the intent of finishing them. A moment later they meet and in a flash it battle is over. Both trainers stand shocked for few moments at the outcome.

"You did it Kanna!" Jas shouts to her victorious partner.

"Seel see Seel!" _(I couldn't let you down!)_ Kanna purred to Jas.

"I must say." Cami begins. "You are an awesome trainer!"

"Thanks, you're pretty good yourself." Jas replies happily.

"Hey do you think we're ready to face Natsume?" I ask Cami curiously.

"Sure, you guys should be able to battle her, and maybe even win." Cami replied.

'So let's go!" I add eagerly. "I can't wait for my first gym battle."

"But your Pokemon are still below the required level to enter the gym." Cami interjected.

"Well then we'll just battle more and level them up!" I shoot back in a slightly annoyed tone. "Come on I'll take you on right now!"

"Hey, take it easy." Cami defends. I didn't mean that you couldn't get your Pokemon leveled up soon. But enough's enough for one day. Come on let's go to the festival in town and have some fun."

"That sounds like a good idea, I was getting tired anyway." Jas replied. "How about it Stef, we can do some more training tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess it would be better to give our Pokemon a rest before anymore battles." I answer. "Anyway the festival sounds like fun."

"It sounds like we have a plan." Hiro added. "I was getting hungry too."

"Alright then!" Cami announced happily. "Since you're guests in my town please allow me to show you around."

With that the three of us head over to the town square to see what's happening.

Arriving a short time later we are greeted by the usual festival fanfare and food stalls

"Hey Jas, lets ride the roller coaster!" I say to my best friend, pointing to the Pokemon themed roller coaster just ahead of us.

"OK, but don't you dare puke on me!" Jas laughed as we headed towards the coaster.

"Ha ha, very funny." I reply in a sarcastic voice. "I'm not the one who gets motion sickness in a car that's not even moving."

"Quit over exaggerating, I'm not that bad." Jas replies. "It was just that one time and I wasn't feeling good to begin with." She adds.

"Yeah, yeah we'll see." I laugh.

"Hey Cami, Hiro you guys gonna go too?" Jas questions curiously.

"Nah, I'll pass." Hiro replied quickly. "Roller coasters really aren't my thing."

"Not me!" Cami replied happily. "I'm going too."

The three of us wait in the line and after a 10 minute wait we climb into a Sandshrew shaped roller coaster car. The ride is pretty good, for a ride at a festival that is.

As we disembark I look at Jas and notice a tinge of white in her facial tone. "Hey everyone look out Jas is gonna hurl!" I shout.

"I'm not gonna puke you moron!" Jas shoots back at me.

"Why is your face all white then?" I question curiously.

"I, umm… just need some air that's all." She replies in a subdued tone.

Everyone has a good laugh and after Jas relaxes a bit we continue on through the festival.

"Hey, lets hit the food stalls, I'm starving!" Hiro complained, holding his stomach in dramatic effect.

"Come on, I know were the best food is!" Cami said happily.

We follow the blonde haired girl past several good smelling food stalls. Rounding a corner we find ourselves at a somewhat subdued food stand.

"This is it?" Questions Hiro. "It doesn't look that good to me."

"Don't let the looks fool you." Cami replied. "I recommend the yakisoba, its super yummy!"

With a bit of reservation we approach the stall and each of us orders something. As we sit down and begin to eat we are surprised at how good everything tastes.

"Wow this is real good!" I say before happily taking another bite. "You were right Cami, this place is the best."

"I agree this is really good." Hiro adds before eating the remainder of his spring rolls.

After finishing our food we explore the festival a bit more. I even convince Hiro to win me a Pikachu plushie at on of the games. Of course this left me open to more of Jasmine's teasing about Hiro being my boyfriend.

As things begin to wind down we walk towards the exit.

"Hey Cami thanks for showing us around the festival." I say happily. "I know I had a good time."

"I second that." Jas adds. "Thank you for a great time."

"It was my pleasure." Cami replies happily. "So tomorrow morning around 10 meet me at trainer's meadow. I'll bring along some of my friends and together we'll get your Pokemon up to level 10.

"Sounds like a plan." I reply. "I can't wait to finally battle in my first gym match."

"Since my Pokemon's already at level 10 I'm gonna challenge Natsume." Hiro began. "And I'm gonna win!"

"What you're not gonna wait for us!" I pout.

"Relax Stef; your boyfriend doesn't need you there to distract him." Jas teases.

"I told you before, he's not my boyfriend!" I defend angrily.

After some laughing at my expense we say good-night to Cami and head over to the Pokemon center. Walking inside we're greeted by Nurse Joy.

'We're you successful in leveling up your Pokemon?" She questions curiously.

"I did." Hiro begins. "But they still need to do some training." He adds hooking a thumb towards Jas and me.

"So will you be challenging Natsume in the morning?" The nurse queried.

"Yep, and as I said before, I'm gonna win!" He replies happily.

"Well you certainly sound confident." Nurse Joy replied. "Shall I take your Pokemon and treat them while you sleep?" She adds looking at all of us.

After saying good-night we head off to our rooms for the night. I arrive at mind and after putting my backpack down fall flat on the bed.

A few minutes later I roll over and grab Wildfire's Poke ball and look at it for a minute. "Tomorrow we'll get you up to level 10 and them we'll defeat Natsume." I say to my partner.

Sleep came easily for me that night. Morning however seemed to come much too soon.

Getting up I walk over to the bathroom pausing at the mirror. "My hair is a mess." I say out loud. "And I need a shower." I add as I step into the shower stall.

Once I'm done with my grooming I dress and head out to meet Jas and Hiro for breakfast.

"Good morning." I say to everyone as I join them at the table. "Ready for another day?"

"I'm a little nervous." Hiro begins in a soft voice.

"Good luck with you gym challenge today." I say happily. "Remember even though we're not gonna be there we'll still be cheering for you."

"Thanks, I need all the encouragement I can get." He replies sounding more confident.

After we finish breakfast we pick up our Pokemon from Nurse Joy and head out. Hiro heads to the Crystal City gym while Jas and I head over to meet Cami at trainers meadow.

We arrive just before 10 and find Cami is already there.

"Jas, Stef this is my friend Monica." Cami begins. "She has one tough Sandshrew and is ready to help with your training."

We say hi and shake hands with the girl.

"I was thinking that Jas will battle Monica and I will battle Stef." Cami said as she took her Poke ball out.

"That sounds good to me." I reply, grabbing Wildfire's Poke ball.

Our battles are fierce but at the end of the day, I have won two out of three matches and Wildfire is at level 10. The same thing happened to Jas except she won all three of her matches thanks to Kanna having a type advantage over Monica's Sandshrew.

After thanking Cami and Monica for their help we head back over to the Pokemon center. Waling inside we see a beaming Hiro talking to Nurse Joy.

"I won!" He exclaims happily holding the rain badge, the symbol of the Crystal City gym up for us to see.

"That's so cool!" I reply happily. "Congratulations on your win."

"Can I hold it?" Jas asks cautiously.

"Sure." Hiro replies. "It's pretty nice huh."

"Wow it's so pretty, I can't wait to get mine." I reply. "So tell us all about Natsume."

"Sorry I can't do that." Hiro replied plainly. 'She made me promise not to tell you what to expect. That way you don't get an unfair advantage." He explained.

"Well that sucks!" I say in a disappointed voice.

"It is what it is." Jas adds plainly. "I guess it makes sense though."

"I still think it sucks." I reply in a dejected voice.

"So did you guys get your Pokemon leveled up?" Hiro asks in a curious voice.

"Yep, Cami and her friend were a big help." I reply. "Tomorrow it will be our time to shine!"

"I'll just say this." Hiro begins. "Be prepared for anything."

"Hey lets go out someplace nice to celebrate." Jas begins. "After all we've done today I think we deserve it."

"I like that idea!" Hiro replied happily.

"So do I." I chimed in.

"It's settled then." Jas replied. "Let's go!"

After a delicious dinner at a nice restaurant we all head back to the Pokemon center.

"Tomorrow's a big day for us." I begin. "I think we should turn in early."

And that's just what we did.

As I lie in bed I hoped that Wildfire and I had what it takes to defeat Natsume.

_Momo-Chan and I adore reviews! So please take a moment and let us know what you think of our story. _


	4. Rise to the Challenge!

**_A big thank you to Angel-of-Twilight13 for your review! We really appreciate it._**

_**This story is being co-written by Momo-chan12 and Awesome Rapidash. **_

_**Chapter 4: Rise to the Challenge! **_

Our time had finally arrived. Wildfire was at level 10 and she had also recently learned ember. We were now ready to face our first gym challenge, at least that's what I hoped.

I hopped out of bed and after a quick shower dried my long dark brown hair. Looking at myself in the mirror I decide to put it into a ponytail. I chose to wear my favorite jeans and a light blue tee shirt. Now dressed and ready to go I headed over to Jas's room to see if she was ready to go yet.

"Hey Jas, are you ready yet?" I asked excitedly as I knocked on the door of my best friend's room.

"Yeah, yeah hold your Ponyta's for a moment." Jas shouts back through the door. "I just gotta finish my hair and then I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Okay." I replied simply and head towards the lobby to wait for her.

When I get there I find Hiro talking to Nurse Joy. I walked over to them and tried once again to pry some information about Natsume out of him.

"Sorry Stef, but I can't say anything." He answered apologetically. "Besides I'd just ruin the experience if you knew what was going to happen."

"I suppose you're right." I pouted. "Hey, can I see your Rain badge again?"

"Sure." He replied happily as he took the badge out and handed it to me.

I was about to hold it up to the light when Jas walked into the lobby.

"Don't worry Stef, you'll have your own one soon enough." She says as she walks over to where we're standing.

"I know, but still I just wanted to see it one more time." I replied as I handed the badge back to Hiro. "Are you ready to go?" I questioned my friend curiously.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied as we headed towards the door.

"Good luck with your challenge." Nurse Joy said as we opened the door to leave.

"Thanks Nurse Joy." I replied and gave a quick "V" for victory sign with my fingers before closing the door behind me.

The walk to the gym was about the most nerve racking thing I'd done since leaving on my journey. 23 and one half minutes later we arrived at the Crystal City gym. As we opened the doors and walked inside I was full of hope and ready to go!

"Good luck you two!" Hiro said happily as we walked towards the reception desk. "Remember to have confidence in yourselves and faith in your Pokemon."

"Aren't you coming with us?" Jas asked curiously.

"No, unfortunately no spectators are allowed." He answered calmly. "It's just you, Natsume and an official from the Pokemon officiating committee."

We walked over to the reception desk and the lady behind it greeted us as we approached.

"Welcome to the Crystal City gym." She began in a welcoming tone. "Are you here to challenge the gym leader?"

"Yes we are." I replied confidently.

"Great, can I please have your names?" She asked in a friendly tone.

"Stephanie Nanami." I answered quickly.

"Jasmine Haruna" Jas replied right after me.

The receptionist entered out names into her PC. It took a few moments for the computer to process our information and to finally print it out.

"OK, ladies." She began. "Miss Haruna will be first to take the challenge. Miss Nanami, you will follow immediately after your friend."

"Aww… how come she gets to go first?" I protest.

"It's alphabetical." The receptionist quickly explains. "H comes before N in the alphabet and that's how we pick the battle order here."

"Well I still don't think it's fair." I pout playfully.

I then turned to my best friend. "Good luck Jas." I begin. "I know you can do it!"

"Thanks Stef, do the best that you can." She replied sounding a bit nervous.

"This way please, Miss Haruna." The receptionist said as she directed Jas towards a large set of double doors. Just before she goes inside she turns and gives me a quick "thumbs up".

The receptionist returned a few moments later and walks over to me. "Miss Nanami, please follow me." She says indicating that I should follow her towards a door.

She opens the door and we walk inside. "Please have a seat." She adds pointing to a comfortable looking couch in front of a wide screen TV. "When it's time for your challenge an official will escort you to the arena. In the mean time please enjoy the TV or help yourself to a snack. She adds pointing to a small refrigerator in one corner of the room.

As the receptionist leaves I walk over to the couch and sit down. _"Wonder how Jas is doing?"_ I think to myself as I flip through the channels on the TV.

For the next 47 minutes I sit restlessly and wait. Finally I hear the doorknob turn and the door opens. An official looking man walks inside. "Miss Nanami, please come with me." He says indicating that I should follow him through the door.

I walk through the door and find myself in the middle of a long hallway.

"This way please." He says as he heads towards the left down the hallway.

We walk for about 5 minutes before stopping in front of a set of double doors. He turns to me and smiles. "Please go right through. Once inside take a position in the trainer's box and your gym challenge will begin. "Good luck." He adds as I push the doors open and walk inside.

Now I'd seen what gyms looked like on TV but here I was, walking to the trainer's box in an official gym battle. My stomach felt as though a flock of Swellow had suddenly take flight inside it.

I arrived at the trainer's box and stepped inside; walking to the center I nervously turn and face the field of battle.

"Welcome to the second battle of the day!" The stadium announcer begins enthusiastically. "This battle will feature Stephanie Nanami from Glacier City versus the gym leader Natsume!"

I watch as a spotlight illuminates a figure walking up from the left-hand side of the playing field. As she nears the field I notice that she is around my height and quite slim. Her long jet black hair flows behind her as she approaches the trainer's box. Once there she steps inside and turns to face me. She stares intently at me with her ruby red eyes.

"This will be a one on one Pokemon battle with no time limit. When you're ready begin!" The announcer says in a competitive tone.

"Welcome to the Crystal City gym, my name is Natsume." She says to me in a seemingly friendly tone. Since you are the challenger I will allow you to begin our match."

"Okay this is our time to shine Wildfire, Go!" I shout and throw Wildfire's Poke ball.

There's a flash of light and a moment later my Pokemon partner stands ready for her first gym battle.

"It's our turn now." Natsume begins. "Go Ralts!" She shouts throwing a Poke ball.

"Let's get things going!" I shout. "Use your tackle attack!"

"Dodge it and counter with double team!" Natsume commanded.

Wildfire's attack missed largely due to the double team employed by Natsume's Ralts.

Wildfire is not deterred and immediately returns to her attack posture.

"Ralts use confusion!" Natsume shouted to the psychic Pokemon.

"Wildfire, counterattack with ember!" I shout to my partner.

The two attacks find their respective marks causing both Pokemon to reel in pain. But after a few seconds both are back in attack stances.

"Well, well." Natsume shouted to me. "Your Pokemon's strong I'll give you that. However I lost once already today and I'm not gonna loose again."

I'm momentarily distracted by her comment. _"Did she say she lost earlier?"_ I thought to myself. _"That means Jas won!"_ With that thought a smile crossed my face knowing that my friend had defeated her.

Unfortunately my distracted thoughts caused me to miss Natsume commanding her Ralts to attack. Wildfire's pain filled whinnies snap me back to reality. I look quickly return my focus to my partner, however the damage is already done. Wildfire is slumped down on her front legs and her rear legs are shaking badly.

The terrifying thought that we might lose crosses my mind for a moment and I push it aside. _"I need to concentrate on winning and helping Wildfire." _I think to myself.

"Come on Wildfire!" I shout to my Ponyta. "Kanna and Jas defeated her now it's our turn!"

_(I'll try partner!)_ Wildfire whinnies weakly in reply.

"Sadly you won't get the chance to prove yourself." Natsume begins maniacally. "It's too bad really. Now Ralts use your confusion attack and let's end this!"

Wildfire once again bears the brunt of the psychic attack. She stumbles a bit before regaining her stance.

_(Ahhh, that really hurts!)_ She grunts painfully.

It almost seems that I can feel her pain and it causes my blood to boil! Angered by the fact that Wildfire is being subject to this abuse I pour all my heart into encouraging her to go on.

"Come on Wildfire I believe in you!" I shout. "Now use your ember attack and let's win that badge!"

Wildfire feeds off of my encouragement and once again she prepares to challenge the small but tough psychic type.

_(OK, I'll do it this time!) _She whinnies in reply.

"Hmm…. I like your style." Natsume says to me with a smile. "Come on Ralts show them why you're here!"

Both Pokemon converge on each other and as soon as they get within a few feet of each other fire off their respective attacks.

There is a loud explosion followed by a lot of smoke.

I look desperately into the smoke but can't see what happened and have to wait for the smoke to clear. When it does I am shocked and fall to my knees in disbelief.

In the center on the battle arena I see both Pokemon and to my amazed eyes Wildfire is standing proudly over the fainted Ralts!

It takes a couple of seconds more for the realization that I'd just defeated my first gym leader to sink in. When it finally does I get back up and happily run to where Wildfire is standing.

"You did it!" I shout happily as I tightly hug her and lovingly stroke her fiery mane. "You are so awesome!"

The stadium announcer confirms our victory. "Ralts is unable to continue. The winner is Stephanie Nanami from Glacier City!"

Wildfire happily nuzzles against me and I hug her in return. "We really did it."

"Yes you did." Natsume said as she walked over to us. "Ralts you did a great job, now take a well deserved rest." She said as she returned her partner to its Poke ball.

"Now in accordance with proper Pokemon Association policy I present to you the Rain Badge, the official badge of the Crystal City gym." She says as she hands me my Rain Badge.

"See I told you she was ready." A voice I recognized says behind me.

Turning around I find Cami and Monica walking up to us. "What are you two doing here?" I question curiously.

"We work for Natsume." Monica replies as she extends her hand to congratulate me. "Congrads on your win." She said with a smile.

What do you mean you work for Natsume?" I ask my curiosity piqued.

"You see there are a lot of trainers who come here to challenge us at the gym." Cami began explaining. "So we challenge trainers that show potential. I guess you could call it a prescreening of sorts."

"But doesn't that give Natsume an unfair advantage?" I question.

"No it doesn't, because I only use the information to determine the level of Pokemon to use." Natsume replied. "If Cami had said that you were weak I'd have chosen a Pokemon that you would have never defeated. Losing would cause you to want to train harder and thus improve your strength and the bond you share with your Pokemon."

"I still don't quite understand." I said in a slightly confused tone.

"All you need to know is that if you're strong you'll win and if you're weak you'll loose, it's as simple as that." The gym leader says as she turns and begins to walk back towards the exit.

"Come on Jas and Hiro are waiting for you out in the lobby." Cami said as she walked towards the door. "I bet you can't wait to tell her that you won." She added with a smile.

"You got that right!" I agree happily and join her as she opens the door.

As we walk through I see Jas and Hiro waiting by the reception desk. They hurry over to me as I walk into the room.

"So?" Jas asks impatiently. "How did you do?"

I don't say anything, just extend my hand and let her see my Rain Badge.

"Alright!" Jas exclaims happily. "We both won!"

"Congratulations Stef!" Hiro says as he unexpectedly hugs me. "I knew you could do it!"

"Hey you two, get a room." Jas teases playfully.

Her comment causes Hiro to quickly release me. It also causes both of us to blush brightly.

"Come on." Cami begins happily. "I know this great restaurant where we can celebrate your victories."

"That sounds like a good idea." I say in agreement. "How about it Jas, are you up for a bit of partying?"

"As if you have to ask." She replies sarcastically. "Hey Hiro, you're coming too, right?"

"Absolutely." He replies with a grin. "I'm always up for a celebration."

"Hey Stef this must be your lucky day." Jas begins with a wide grin. "Not only did you win your first gym badge but now you get to celebrate with your boyfriend."

"I told you he's not my boyfriend!" I say in a somewhat irritated tone. "We're just friends and that's all."

"Yeah, yeah sure whatever you say." Jas replies with a laugh.

We all follow Cami out of the gym and into the city. A short 15 minute walk later and we arrive at the restaurant. Walking inside the waitress greets Cami happily. She seats us at a large table and after taking our drink order walks back to the counter.

For the next several hours we eat and drink, happily celebrating our victory. Finally at 10:00 PM we get ready to head back to the Pokemon center.

We thank Cami for her help and wave good-by as she heads home.

It takes us 10 minutes to get back to the Pokemon center. Nurse Joy greets us as we walk inside. "So how did it go?" She questions curiously as we walk over to her desk.

Jas and I both hold up our Rain Badges.

"Congratulations on your victory!" The Pokemon nurse says happily. "Would you like me to treat your Pokemon?" She asks in a curious voice.

Jas and I nod our heads yes and hand our Poke balls to her Chansey.

After a bit of small talk we say good-night to each other and head to our rooms.

I walk in and collapse onto the bed. Rolling over onto my back I take out my badge. I hold it up to the light and admire the way it glimmers.

"_I, no we really did it!"_ I think happily to myself.

Placing the badge on the table next to me, I get dressed for bed and lie down. Sleep comes easily for me and as my eyes close I couldn't be happier.

_I hope you liked this chapter and thanks for reading all the way to the end! Please take a moment and write a review and let Momo-chan and I know what you think of our story. _


	5. Onward to the Next Challenge

_**This story is being co-written by Momo-Chan12 and Awesome Rapidash**_

_**A big thank you to Angel-of-Twilight13 for your review. We really appreciate hearing from you!**_

_We don't own Pokemon, but the characters in this story belong to us. _

**_Chapter 5: Onward to the Next Challenge! _**

After our victories in Crystal City Jas, Hiro and I set out towards Bay View Town. It's there that we hope to earn our second badge, the Hydra Badge. The town isn't far from Crystal City, only about two days walk so we began our trek right after breakfast.

"Hey Stef, Hiro hurry up!" Jas says as she takes the lead down the path out of Crystal City.

"We're coming!" I shout back as Hiro and I run to catch up.

Catching up to the blonde takes a bit of effort but we quickly do. "What's your big hurry?" I question curiously.

"I just wanna get the show on the road." Jas replies. "Don't worry you can still walk together with your boyfriend." She adds with a smile.

I just roll my eyes at her comment. "How many time do I have to say it, Hiro isn't my boyfriend!" I fire back in defense.

"Hmm… that hug after your win yesterday says otherwise." Jas quickly retorts.

"I, umm… well… that was just to congratulate me." I argue back. "Come on Hiro, help me out here."

Hiro just shrugs his shoulders and smiles back at me and I glare back. _"Hmm… what's he thinking?'_ I question to myself.

We continue on down the path for a couple of hours before coming to a large tree in a grassy clearing.

"How about we break for lunch here?" Hiro questions curiously. "It's nice and shady under the tree."

"Yeah, that looks like a nice spot." I agree.

Jas just smiles at me. "I guess we could stop here." She says as she walks over to the tree and sits down against it. "The shade is nice and cool."

As we eat I ask Hiro about the gym in Bay View Town.

"Well, the badge is called the Hydra Badge and it looks like an aquamarine wave." He explains carefully. "The gym leader's name is Rena and she's water Pokemon specialist."

"Water Pokemon eh?" Jas says plainly. "Well, your sure gonna have a hard time Stef."

"Why do you say that?" I question. "Wildfire's pretty tough."

"But remember Stef, water Pokemon have a type advantage over fire type Pokemon." Hiro answers.

"But I still have Kagura." I argue back. "She just needs some training."

"She needs a lot of training." Hiro says as he grabs another sandwich from his backpack. "But we will help with that, right Jas?"

"We sure will." Jas answers with a smile. "I couldn't stand the crying if you were to loose." She adds with a laugh.

"How about Kanna?" I question. "I know she's an ice type, but can she defeat a water type?"

"She'll be evenly matched." Hiro answers quickly. "Her physical attacks like head butt will be the most effective."

"I'll have to keep that in mind." Jas replies. "Do you know anything else about the gym leader?"

"Yep, she went to the same school as me." Hiro begins to explain. "She is a year older than us but even at her age she was able to become a gym leader."

We finish lunch and begin back down the path. We hadn't walked that far when we ran into a couple of trainers looking to battle.

"I'm Kylie and I'm gonna be the best bug Pokemon trainer!" A redheaded girl slightly younger than us shouts out proudly. "So who's gonna challenge me?" She asks curiously.

"That would be me." I say as I step towards her.

"Hmm… you don't look that tough." Kylie comments as she removes a Poke ball from her belt. "Go Metapod!" She shouts, throwing her Poke ball out in front of us.

"It's time for some training." I say as I reach for Kagura's Poke ball. "Kagura, I choose you!"

As the two Pokemon size each other up I take a moment and record Kylie's Metapod in my Pokedex.

"Metapod, the cocoon Pokemon. This is the evolved form of Caterpie. Grass type, Male, currently at level 7, and in good health. Status is currently OK."

"Let's get things started here!" Kylie shouts enthusiastically. "Start with a tackle attack!"

"This should be easy Kagura." I say to my bird Pokemon partner. "Dodge and counter with gust."

"Pidgey Pi Pi Pidgey." _(Finally a battle and I'm gonna win!)_ Kagura coos confidently as she evades the slow moving Metapod. She then turning she fires off a strong gust attack.

Kylie's Metapod crashes to the ground under the onslaught; however it is far from defeated and regains its stance defiantly.

"See even though you may have a type advantage, it won't be easy." The redhead retorts sarcastically. "Now Metapod, use harden."

"Hit it with another gust attack!" I shout to Kagura.

"Pidgey Pi Pu!" _(Time to end this!)_ Kagura caws loudly as she prepares to attack.

Kylie can only watch helplessly as my partner hits her Metapod with a devastating blast of wind. The effect is immediate as her Pokemon falls over defeated.

"But, but… Why?" Kylie asks as she looks on in disbelief. "How did I loose?"

The win causes Kagura to gain another level, bringing her up to level 7.

"Alright!" I shout happily. "That was awesome Kagura!"

"I guess you're better than I thought." Kylie says as she walks over to me. "Here is the money for your win." She adds, handing me several bills.

"Thank you." I reply with a smile as I accept the money.

I turn and face Jas and a grinning Hiro. "Nice win!" He says happily. "Keep going like that and Rena will be a piece of cake."

After accepting Kylie's challenge to battle again another day we say good-by and continue down the path.

We continue to walk for the remainder of the day. Stopping several times so each of us could battle wild Pokemon that we encountered.

As the sun began to disappear over the horizon we find a spot to set up camp. This would be the first time for me sleeping out under the stars since beginning my journey.

While spreading out my mat and sleeping bag I look over at Hiro, who is busy getting a fire going. _"He is kinda cute." _I think to myself.

After setting up my sleeping area I look in my backpack for something to eat for dinner. Finding a couple of remaining sandwiches I take one out and move over to the fire to eat.

"Hey Hiro, you said that you went to school with Rena right?" I question curiously between bites. "Did you know her personally?"

"I had her in several of my classes and I guess we were sorta friends." He replies. "But she was always so into training her Pokemon and battling that she really didn't have many friends."

"It sounds like she was pretty much a loner." I reply.

"No not really." Hiro says as he adds another log to the fire. "She just spent a lot of time devoted to training. When she wasn't doing that she was actually a really fun person to be around."

"Who's that?" Jas questions as she sits down next to me.

"Hiro was telling me about how he knows Rena from school." I answer.

"Have you talked to her recently?" Jas asks curiously.

"Not since last year when she became the gym leader." Hiro says in a somewhat softer tone.

All three of us just sit quietly and look at the dancing flames of the campfire. After several quiet minutes Hiro speaks up.

"Hey you know what!" He begins in an excited voice as he reaches into his backpack. "I picked up some marshmallows before we left. Wanna roast em?"

"Yeah, I haven't done that in a long time!" I shout happily.

"I think it was the last time we went to camp." Jas adds as she accepts a marshmallow from Hiro. "Wow that was a while ago."

We each find a stick and poke the marshmallows onto the end. Then holding the marshmallows just above the fire, we roast them to a nice golden brown.

"Mmm… these are so good!" I say happily, reaching for another marshmallow.

"They sure are." A smiling Jas agrees. "That was a good idea Hiro."

"Thanks." He replies.

We sit and enjoy the fire, eating marshmallows until they are finally all gone.

"Man that was a blast." Hiro says as he stirs the fading fire. "But I hope we don't get sick after eating all those marshmallows!" He adds with a laugh.

"Ugh, I ate too many." I say rubbing my stomach dramatically. "But it was a lot of fun."

"Yep, it sure was." Jas says simply as she gets up. "I'm gonna hit the sack, see you guys in the morning."

"Good night Jas" I say as she gets into her sleeping bag. "I think I'm gonna turn in myself."

"Good night Stef." Hiro begins. "I think I'm gonna stay awake a little longer, you know just to make sure the fire goes out."

I lie down and pull my sleeping bag up around my head. Closing my eyes I wonder what awaits us in Bay View Town.

The morning sun shining in my eyes tells me that its time to get up. I look around and find Jas and Hiro still asleep. Quietly I get out of my sleeping bag and walk over to where the fire was. The morning air is a little chilly causing me to shiver slightly.

I sit and enjoy the quiet morning watching curiously as a couple of Pidgey's perched on a nearby tree chirp happily. I watch them until I hear Jas waking up.

"Morning Jas." I say as she gets up and walks over to me.

"Good morning Stef, how'd you sleep?" Jas asks as she sits down.

"I slept like a log." I reply. "I always liked sleeping out under the stars."

Jas reaches into her backpack and after a bit of rummaging pulls out a couple of Pop-Tarts. "Want one" She asks curiously.

"Thanks." I reply, taking one of the pastries from my friend.

As we eat we hear Hiro stirring in his sleeping bag. Looking over we se him getting up. His hair looks like a spearow's nest and causes both Jas and I to bust out laughing.

"What's so funny?" He questions intently.

"Your hair!" Jas says between laughs. "It's totally messy."

Realizing why he's being laughed at, he quickly reaches into his backpack and pulls out a comb and combs his hair back into its normal state.

After Hiro finishes eating we pack up our stuff. With a last look around to make sure we didn't forget anything we walk back to the path and continue towards Bay View Town.

It takes us most of the day to get there since we stopped quite a few times to battle wild Pokemon. The result though was Wildfire getting to level 13 and Kagura to level 10. Jas and Hiro's Pokemon were also able to increase their levels.

Walking into town we begin to look for the Pokemon center.

"Do you know where the Pokemon center is?" Jas questions Hiro.

"No, I don't." He answers plainly. "I've never been to this town before."

We wander aimlessly for almost 45 minutes before I take action.

"Excuse me." I say as I tap an older woman on her shoulder. "Could you please tell us where the Pokemon center is?"

"Sure." The woman replied. "It's just down this street, and then turn right at the Mart. You can't miss it."

"Thank you." I reply and turn back to my traveling companions. "That was easy wasn't it?" I add smartly.

Jas and Hiro just shrug their shoulders and begin to walk down the street.

It doesn't take us long to find the Pokemon center once we're going the right way. Walking inside we're greeted by Nurse Joy.

"Welcome to our Pokemon center. Joy says with a smile. "Would you like me to treat your Pokemon for you?"

"Yes, we would." I reply, reaching for my Poke balls.

"Blissey, please gather their Poke balls." Nurse Joy instructs a large pink Pokemon.

"Oh wow a Blissey." Jas shouts happily as she walks over the pink Pokemon.

I take out my Pokedex and point it at the Blissey.

"Blissey, the nurse Pokemon. Blissey is the evolved form of Chansey. Chansey will only evolve into Blissey when it's friendship with its trainer exceeds a very high level."

Blissey gathers all of our Poke balls and after placing them onto a cart brings them over to where Nurse Joy is waiting.

As we wait for Nurse Joy to finish another trainer walks in. He is several years older than us and with him is a Raichu. He looks around and notices us waiting. He walks over and introduces himself as Zak.

"Are you guys here to take our town's gym challenge?' He asks curiously.

"We sure are!" Jas replies enthusiastically. 'We're gonna win too."

"Hmm…, you really seem to be determined, that's for sure." He chuckles. "Just remember, even though Rena's may be rather young she is quiet skilled with Pokemon."

"Our friend Hiro knows her." Jas says, pointing towards Hiro. "He told us that she's good so we're ready for it."

Hiro takes the opportunity to examine Zak's Raichu.

"Your Raichu is in very good health." Hiro says in a complimentary tone. "Is he your primary partner?"

"Yep, Rai and I have been through quite a bit together." Zak replies happily.

"Stephanie, Jasmine, and Hiro your Pokemon are ready for you." Nurse Joy announces over the P.A.

"Good luck with your gym challenge." Zak says as we walk towards the counter to pick up our Pokemon.

"Can you tell us the way to the gym?" I question the Pokemon nurse as she hands me my Poke balls.

"Of course." She replies happily. "You go out and make a quick right them walk until you come to the first stop light. Turn right at that corner and you'll see it right away."

It takes us just under 15 minutes to walk to the gym. We notice that it is strangely deserted but continue over to the main entrance. Hiro notices a sign hanging on the door.

_Trainers, _

_Sorry but the gym will be closed today and tomorrow! I need some time to relax and unwind. I'll be at the beach if you want to come by and just have some fun._

_Rena._

"Guess we're heading to the beach huh." Hiro remarked

"Sure looks that way." I add.

It takes us another 10 minutes to find the beach. Once there we walk out onto the sand and look around. Since it's late in the day there aren't many people around. After walking around a little we see a large umbrella with a picture of a Lapras on it. A swimsuit clad girl with long red hair is relaxing beneath it.

"Is that her?" Jas questions curiously.

"Yep, it sure is." Hiro says happily as he begins to walk towards her.

"Hi Rena, remember me?" Hiro asks cautiously as he walks up to the girl.

"It takes Rena a moment before she reacts. "Hiro, how are you!" She says happily, getting up and hugging him. 'It's so nice to see you again!" She adds happily.

"It's nice to se you too." Hiro says as he returns the girls hug.

A pang of jealousy runs thru me as I watch them hug.

After a moment they separate. Hiro turns to us and introduces us.

"Rena, I'd like you to meet Stephanie Nanami and Jasmine Haruna."

"It's nice to meet both of you." Rena says with a smile as she shakes our hands.

She then moves back over to Hiro. "Hey, let's go out for dinner to celebrate." She adds as she puts her arm around him.

Hiro sees the jealous look in my face and politely removes Rena's arm from his waist. He then walks over to me.

"Sorry for that." He begins. "It's just that Rena and I were pretty good friends back in school."

Rena takes note of this and walks over to me.

"So I guess you're Hiro's girlfriend huh." She says plainly. "That makes us rivals."

"We, technically Hiro and I aren't really boyfriend and girlfriend." I begin explaining. "We're just friends right now."

"In any case, I still consider you to be my rival for him." Rena replies with a sly smile.

"Hey, no fighting you two." Hiro says as he notices the intensity of our conversation.

"Don't worry." Rena laughs. "It's all in fun, right Stephanie?"

"Yeah, sure it is." I reply. "By the way call me Stef."

Rena turns to both Jas and me. "So I guess you're here to challenge me for my badge, right."

"That's right." Jas replies in a strong voice. "We're gonna win too."

"Well see." Rena begins. "But as you probably, read the gym is closed today and tomorrow so I can relax a bit. So haw about coming back here tomorrow and having some fun with me?" She questions hopefully.

"Sounds like fun." I reply. "What do you think Jas?"

"I'll never turn down the opportunity to have fun on the beach." She replies with a big smile.

"Well met you here tomorrow around 10:00." Hiro says as he walks back to were I'm standing.

"That sounds great." Rena replies happily. "Hey you still wanna go out and celebrate?" She questions curiously.

"I'll go only if Jas and Stef can join us as well." He replies.

"Of course they're welcome to come too!" Rena replies enthusiastically. "Meet me at the gym in one hour and we'll go, okay?"

"We'll be there." I reply before turning and beginning to walk away.

We meet Rena one hour later and for the next few hours had a really fun time in spite of the fact that she kept on trying to get between Hiro and me. Before we left to go back to the Pokemon center for the night Rena reminds us about our beach date.

As I lay down to sleep that night I wondered what was in store for us tomorrow.

_Alright, this chapter is done! Please write a review and let Momo-Chan and I know how you like our story. Thank you! _


	6. Beach Rivalry

_**This story is being co-written by Awesome Rapidash and Momo-chan12. **_

Words in _(Italics)_ represent the loose translation of a Pokemon's speech or thoughts.

_Disclaimer: _Nether one of us own Pokemon. Nintendo and Gamefreak do. The characters in this story belong to us.

_**Chapter 6: Beach Rivalry!**_

I woke up early the following morning and after eating a light breakfast, I head back to my room and take a nice hot shower. With that done, I walk over to my backpack and take my swimsuit out; a baby blue bikini.

"_Hmm…, this should catch Hiro's eye."_ I think to myself and smile slyly as I slip the suit on.

I then put on a pair of blue jeans shorts and a yellow tee shirt with a Pikachu on the front. Finally after tying my hair up into a loose ponytail I head over to see if Jas is ready to go. She meets me half way there.

"Are you ready to have some fun?" She questions curiously.

"You bet I am!" I reply happily. "Have you seen Hiro yet?"

"Yep, he's waiting for us in the lobby." She replies.

We walk into the lobby of the Pokemon center and find Hiro chatting idly with Nurse Joy.

"Good morning!" I say happily as I walk over to where Hiro is standing. "Are you ready to hit the beach?"

"I sure am!" He says happily.

The three of us walk out of the Pokemon center and head towards the beach. It takes just under 20 minutes for us to walk there. Arriving we find the beach quite a bit more crowded than the previous day.

"Wow, how are we gonna find Rena with all these people here?" Jas questions curiously.

'We'll just have to look around." Hiro begins. "But first let's get changed into our swimsuits."

"Sounds like a good idea." I reply and begin to remove my shirt.

"Ahhh… Stef, what are you doing?" Hiro asks quickly in an almost panicked voice.

I finish pulling my shirt over my head before replying. "I have my suit on under my clothes."

"Oh!" Hiro gasps in relief. "I thought you were gonna do a striptease there for a moment."

"You'd like that wouldn't you." Jas says with a laugh.

Her comment causes Hiro to blush a deep crimson red.

"Well I need to change." Jas says as she heads towards the changing rooms. "I'll be right back."

"I need to change too." Hiro adds as he begins to walk towards the changing rooms. "You gonna wait for us here?" He asks me curiously.

"Yeah, I'll wait here for you guys to finish." I say as I finish removing my shorts.

It takes almost 10 minutes for them to finish changing. Hiro is first out and I immediately take notice of how cute he looks in his dark blue surfer style shorts. He looks at me as he walks over.

"You look good in your bikini." He says sheepishly.

"Thanks." I reply happily. "You're pretty cute too." I add with a wink.

Hiro blushes at my comment, causing me to giggle a little.

Jas joins us shortly thereafter wearing a lacey white two piece suit. Her hair, normally kept in a ponytail is loose and blowing gently in the sea breeze.

We begin to walk across the beach in search of Rena. We walk for about 10 minutes when a voice behind us calls out. "Hey, we're over here!"

We turn around and see Rena, clad in a revealing pastel pink bikini waving to us. With her is another girl, she has short dark brown hair and is clad in a mint green one piece swimsuit. Together they are sitting under Rena's Lapras umbrella.

We walk over them and Rena gets up to greet us.

"I'm glad you came." She begins with a big smile. "Especially you Stef." She adds with a wink.

Jas notices the second girl, who is still sitting under the umbrella. "Is she another trainer too?" She asks curiously.

"Oh no, she's actually my assistant." Rena answers as she turns to the girl. "I'd like you all to meet my friend Hikaru."

Hikaru gets up and greets us happily. "Rena told me that you're her rival." She adds pointing her finger directly at me.

"Umm… I guess that's true." I reply.

We spread out our beach blankets next to where Rena's umbrella is set up.

Rena and Hikaru walk over to us and sit down. Rena makes it a point to sit next to Hiro.

"So are you ready for the games to begin?" She asks us curiously.

"What sort of games do you have in mind?" Jas asks curiously.

"Beach games of course!" Rena giggled happily. "What else would we do at the beach?"

"Okay, so what's the first game?" Hiro asks the redheaded gym leader curiously.

"Since we're at the beach, and the beach is made of sand our first game will be a sand castle building contest."

"A sand castle building contest?" I repeat curiously.

"Yep." Rena replies with a smile. "You do know how to build sand castles, don't you?" She asks me curiously.

"Of course I do!" I quickly reply. "Just you wait and see what I can build." I add.

"Alright then, here are the rules." Rena begins explaining. "Each person will work by themselves and we will have a one hour limit in which to complete our castles. Since Hikaru will be the timekeeper she will not be doing a castle. Anyone have any questions?"

No one says anything.

"Alright then." Hikaru begins. "On your marks, get set, build!"

Jas, Hiro, Rena and I all quickly head down to the waters edge and stake out an area to build our castles on.

I grab a bucket and a small shovel then begin to construct my castle. It takes me a bit longer than I wanted but after 45 minutes I have it 99 percent completed. I just need to add some final touches. I finish adding them just as Hikaru announces that the time is up.

"Okay, now we'll check out each others castles and see which one is the best." Rena announces proudly.

We first walk over to Rena's castle and I must admit it is impressive. _"Mine is better."_ I muse to myself as I examine the castle closely.

"It's pretty impressive huh Stef?" Jas asks as she looks at the far side of Rena's sand structure.

"It's okay I guess, wait till you see mine." I reply loudly, making sure Rena hears me.

Next it's my turn as everyone walks over and begins to inspect my sand fortress.

"Hmm… it's very impressive." Hiro says in a complimentary voice. "Nice job with the details." He adds as he takes a closer look at my castle.

Next is Jas's castle and we are all sorta surprised with what we see. If Rena and my castles were overly detailed Jas's is overly simplified, consisting of just 3 walls and some small details. As we look at her castle Jas's face begins to flush with embarrassment.

"I never was too good at building sand castles." She says as we fight to keep from laughing.

"That's okay Jas." I begin. "At least you tried."

We finally walk over to Hiro's castle. I look in disbelief at the magnificent sand fortress that stands in front of us.

Jas, Rena and I just stand there speechless for several moments. Finally Hikaru speaks up.

"It looks like the winner of this contest is Hiro." She says happily.

"Sorry, but as a kid I used to spend every summer at the beach, so sand castle building is no big deal to me." He says shyly.

"Alright then." Rena begins. "Let's take a break. Then we'll move on to the next game."

We all agree and walk back to where our blankets are and relax for the next 10 minutes.

"So now it's time for the next game." Rena says as she gets up. As she does she grabs some orange cones and a soccer ball.

She walks over to a section of the beach that's not very crowded and sets the cones down parallel to each other about 8 feet apart. She then motions for us to join her.

Once we are all there she announces the next game. "We're gonna have a goal scoring contest." She announces. "Who ever is able to score the most goals in 10 shots will win."

"Who's gonna be the goalie?" I ask curiously.

Rena smiles and looks over at Hiro. "Why it's the winner of our last game of course." She says happily.

Hiro isn't exactly thrilled with the idea but agrees to do it none the less.

'I'll go first." Jas quickly volunteers.

Hiro walks over and stands between the orange cones. Rena then walks over to where he is standing, turns around and walks off 25 steps. She then uses her foot to make a line in the sand.

"This is where we'll shot from." She says as she kicks the ball over to Jas, who places it on the line and gets ready to kick.

"Hikaru, can you please stand behind Hiro and catch the balls that he misses?" The gym leader asks her friend.

"Sure, it's no problem." She answers as she walks over and stands several feet behind Hiro, who looks back at her and smiles. "You won't need to do anything, because I'm gonna stop all their shots." He laughs.

"We'll see about that, I happen to know that Rena is pretty good at soccer." Hikaru quickly replies.

Jas takes her first shot and it flies right past Hiro, who jumps in the opposite direction.

"You're gonna stop em all eh?" Hikaru laughs as she kicks the ball back to Jas.

"That was just a lucky shot." Hiro quickly counters. "I'll hold the rest."

Jas takes the remainder of her shots and manages to get another 4 past Hiro.

Next it was my turn and after the first missing 2 and Hiro blocking my next 2, I manage to get the rest past him.

"Alright, that's 6 for me!" I shout happily.

Rena then steps up and begins. She hits her first 3 before Hiro is able to hold one. She hits 2 more before he holds another shot.

'If she gets 2 more she'll win." Jas says to me. "You better hope your boyfriend holds these shots."

Rena steps up and nails her next shot tying her with me at 6 goals apiece.

"Come on Hiro, stop this next one!" I shout.

He looks over at me and smiles and gives me a "thumbs up".

Rena takes notice of this and gets ready to shoot.

I close my eyes as she does, not wanting to see the result.

"Yeah, he held it!" Jas shouts happily as she grabs my arm.

I open my eyes and see a smiling Hiro holding the ball and a red faced Rena standing on the line.

"It looks like it's a tie." I say happily as I run over to Hiro and give him a "high five".

Rena gives me a mean stare before reaching down and picking up the cones. She then walks over to us.

"We'll continue after we eat lunch." She says before turning to Hikaru and handing her the cones.

We all walk over to our beach blankets and sit down to eat. Enjoying boxed lunches from a snack stand close to where we're sitting.

After we finish Rena gets up and walks over to a backpack. She reaches inside and removes 4 Poke balls. She then walks over to us and hands us each a Poke ball before sitting down.

"Each of these Poke balls contains a water type Pokemon." She begins. "In our next game we will work together with the Pokemon to swim out to the marker buoy and back."

"Which Pokemon are they?" I ask curiously.

"You'll see when you throw the Poke ball." Rena explains as she looks at the Poke ball in her hand.

"Will the Pokemon obey us?" Hiro questions curiously.

"Yes they will, so don't worry about that." Rena replies before standing back up.

"Come on let's go." She says as she walks towards the water.

I walk over to the waters edge and look at the Poke ball in my hand. _"I hope you're fast."_

"Alright." Hikaru begins. "You and your Pokemon will need to swim as fast as you can out to the red marker buoy and then back to the shore."

"Will we all race together?" Jas queries.

"Yes, everyone will go at the same time." Hikaru replies as she steps in front of us. "When I say go throw your Poke balls and begin the race."

I look over to Jas and then to Hiro and Rena. "Alright, I'm gonna win this!" I say excitedly.

Hikaru raises her arms above her head. "Get ready, Get set, and go!" She shouts dropping her arms.

I throw the Poke ball and after a quick flash I find that I have a Spheal as my swimming partner.

I grab onto the Spheal's body. "Let's go Spheal!" I shout loudly.

Spheal Spheal! _(Hold on because here we go!)_ The Pokemon coos as it begins to swim towards the distant buoy.

I hold on tightly as the water Pokemon swims swiftly through the cool water.

Looking to my left I see Jas moving up closer to me. She has a Corsola as her partner and it seems like a pretty strong swimmer.

"Come on Spheal, we don't want to loose!" I encourage the water type.

Spheal Spheal! _(Hold on tightly then!)_ It squeals and begins to swim faster.

I adjust my position to be right behind the Pokemon. This not only helps the small water Pokemon to go faster but also reduces the chances of my bikini top being pulled off by the rushing water.

As I near the buoy I see Rena closing in on my right. She has a Marill as her partner and seems to be right in sync with the small blue Pokemon. Close behind her is Hiro, who has a Totodile as his partner.

As Spheal and I round the buoy and begin to head back towards the shore I hear Rena taunting me. I look to my left and find her almost tied with us!

"Faster Spheal, go faster!" I shout. "Don't let them beat us!"

The race is neck and neck until the very end when, as Rena tires to reposition herself she looses her grip and momentary slips free of her Marill.

It's the break I need to finish the race first!

I hug my now worn out Spheal. "You did an awesome job!" I say as I stroke its head happily. "Thank you so much!"

Spheal Spheal! _(Your welcome, it was fun!)_ The Pokemon coos happily before I return it to its Poke ball.

Rena finishes the race in second, Jas in third and Hiro in last place.

As we all stand on the beach and dry off Rena announces the next game.

"For our final game we need a volunteer." She begins. "Since you were the last to finish the swimming race you're it Hiro." She adds with a big grin.

"What!" He exclaims in shock. "What do I have to do?" Hiro asks in a curious voice.

"Oh, it's easy." Rena begins. "You just lie down and let us bury you in the sand, that's all."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad." Hiro says hesitantly. "But why do I think there's more to it than just being buried in the sand."

"That's all there is to it." Rena begins. "Now come on and lie down."

Hiro reluctantly does as requested and it doesn't take us long to bury him right up to his neck in the sand.

"What's going to happen next?' I ask curiously.

Rena looks over to Hikaru, who opens a large cooler next to their umbrella. She reaches inside and takes out a large watermelon. She then takes it and places it next to Hiro's head. Hikaru then walks back over to the umbrella and grabs some more items. When she returns I can see a plastic ball bat in one hand and a large piece of cloth in the other.

"What's that for?" I question curiously, pointing at the ball bat.

"All will be made clear in a moment." Rena begins as she walks over to Jas.

She takes the cloth and wraps it around Jas's head, covering her eyes completely. She then gives her the bat and leads her over to where Hiro is buried.

"Hey, what's this about?" Hiro asks in an alarmed voice as he sees the blindfolded, bat wielding Jas come into view.

"So now, in order to eat our watermelon we need to split it." Hikaru begins. "Okay Jas, you get 2 swings to try and split the melon."

"Hey!" Hiro shouts as Jas's first swing comes down only inches from the side of his head. "Be careful!"

Jas manages to hit the melon with her second swing but it doesn't split. Next it's my turn and Rena places the cloth over my eyes. She then spins me around a couple of times.

"OK Stef, take your best shot." She says once she finishes spinning me.

I take my first swing and feel it contact the sand.

"Ahhh… Stef, be careful, that was almost my head!" Hiro shouts crazily.

My next swing hit the melon and starts to split it. Next up is Rena. She hits the melon on her first swing, splitting it a little more. Her second swing misses and hits the mound that Hiro is buried under. Finally Hikaru takes her turn and with her first swing she splits the melon in half.

"Nice shot." I say as I reach down and pick up a piece of the juicy watermelon.

Rena picks up the rest and carries it over to the cooler. There she uses a knife to cut it into smaller portions.

"Have some watermelon." I say to Hiro, who is still buried in the sand. "Come on I'll help you."

"Thanks Stef." He replies before biting into the piece of melon I'm holding by his mouth.

The sun is already setting as we finish eating the watermelon. Rena announces what she's planned next.

"I figured that we can go to a restaurant and have a nice dinner.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" I say as I begin to pack up our stuff.

We all get packed up and begin to walk back towards the changing rooms.

"Hey, aren't we missing something?" Jas questions curiously.

"Hmm… I don't think so." I reply.

Hiro, still buried in the sand looks around curiously. "Hey, where'd everyone go?"

A young boy hearing Hiro's voice and walks over to investigate. He looks around the mounded up sand until he walks around to where Hiro's head is.

"Hey kid, help me out." Hiro asks in a mildly desperate sounding tone.

He pauses for a moment, staring at the talking head poking out from the sand.

"AHHH…. Mama, there's a talking head in the sand over here!" He screams as he runs over to his mother, who is standing nearby.

"What are you talking about Tai?" The boy's mother asks curiously.

She follows her son over to where Hiro is buried. "Look Mama, it's a talking head!" He says in an excited tone.

"Can you please help me get out?" Hiro asks the boy's mother as she suppresses the urge to laugh.

"What happened?" She asks between giggles.

"I was here with my friends, but I don't know where they got off to." Hiro replies as the woman begins to dig him out.

It doesn't take long for the woman to remove enough sand so that Hiro can free himself.

"Thank you for your help." He says happily as he brushes off the sand from his shorts and legs.

"You're welcome." The woman replies as she and the young boy continue on their way.

Hiro looks around but doesn't see anyone. As he searches the area he hears a girl's voice calling out. A quick search finds the source of the voice is a girl buried in a sand mound similar to the one he recently escaped from and walks over to her.

"Need a hand?" He asks as he kneels down next to the girls head.

"Yeah thanks." She replies in a grateful voice. "My friends did this to me as revenge for a trick I played on them."

It's then that Hiro notices the plastic Sharpedo fin stuck into the top of the mound.

"What did you do to them?" He questions curiously as he digs away the sand.

"My friends were swimming and I came up behind them underwater with the Sharpedo fin sticking out of the water." She explains. "When my friend Monica saw it she totally freaked, which caused me to laugh and I had to come up for air. That's when they caught me and buried me in the sand."

"Wow that's cruel; by the way I'm Hiro." He says. "So where are your friends now?"

"My name is Sandya, and they said they're going to get a snack and would let me out when they got back." She begins. "But thanks to you I can go and find them and laugh."

Hiro is about to speak when he hears a familiar voice calling for him.

"Hey Stef, where'd you guys go?" He asks curiously. "You left me buried in the sand and I had to get a stranger to dig me out."

"Well, we all had finished changing when I asked were you were?" I reply. "We waited a little thinking that you were in the changing room, but when you didn't come out we came back to see where you were."

"Who's she?" Rena questions, pointing to the girl that Hiro just helped out.

"She was also buried in the sand by her friends." He explains. "Her name is Sandya and she played a trick on them but got caught and they put her in the sand as a punishment."

"So it looks like we have sandwoman and sandman!" I laugh loudly.

We all have a good laugh.

After saying thanks to Hiro for getting her out, Sandya runs off to find her friends.

"Come on lets get going." Rena says in an impatient tone. "I'm hungry."

We all walk over to the changing rooms and wait as Hiro changes back into his street clothes. Once he is done we follow Rena as she leads us to one of her favorite restaurants.

After dinner we start to head back to the Pokemon center. But before we leave Rena reminds us of just why we're here.

"Be at the gym at 10:00 AM and we will battle." She begins. "The challenge we started today will finish tomorrow with our Pokemon battling each other." She adds, looking right at me. "You won't chicken out will you?"

"I'll be there, don't you worry." I reply angrily.

_So what will happen when Stef and Rena battle? Find out in the next chapter. _


	7. Battle of the Rivals

_This story is being co-written by Awesome Rapidash and Momo-chan12. _

Words in _(Italics)_ represent the loose translation of a Pokemon's speech or thoughts.

_Disclaimer: _Nether one of us own Pokemon. Nintendo and Gamefreak do. The characters in this story belong to us.

_**Chapter 7: Battle of the Rivals**_

The morning sun shining in my eyes tells me that it's time to get up.

I climb out of bed and head over to the shower. Next I brush my hair and get dressed. Today I would fight for not only my second gym badge, but also to defend my honor.

As I finish dressing I hear a knock on my door.

"Hey Stef, you ready yet?" Jas questions from the other side.

"Just a minute." I reply as I grab my Poke balls and clip them to my belt. Then I head to the door and walk out.

"It's about time Nanami." Jas teases playfully as I walk out. "I thought maybe you'd chicken out or something."

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen." I reply defensively.

"There's always a first time." Jas says with a laugh.

We walk together to the lobby of the Pokemon center, were we find Hiro waiting for us.

"Are we ready to go?" He asks curiously.

"Yep, let's go!" I say cheerfully and head towards the door.

It only takes a short time for us to reach the gym. We walk inside and are greeted by the receptionist. We each register for the gym challenge and she has us go into the battle arena to wait for Rena. I get sorta nervous when I see that the arena is full of spectators!

"Welcome to our gym." A familiar voice behind us says.

We turn around and find Hikaru walking up to us.

"So when are we gonna battle?" I ask curiously.

"Rena's preparing her team right now." Hikaru answers confidently. "She's not gonna go easy on you that's for sure."

"Good, I wouldn't have it any other way." Hiro replies in an equally confident tone. "I know we have what it takes to win here"

Hikaru smiles at Hiro's bold comment.

"OK." Hikaru begins, looking at a clipboard in her hands. "The first one to challenge Rena will be Stef, followed by Jas, and finally Hiro."

"Alright I'm first!" I shout happily. "I'm so gonna win this!"

"Please take your position in the trainer's box." Hikaru instructs. "Rena will be out momentarily.

I take my position and remove Kagura's Poke ball from my belt.

"We're gonna do this together." I say to her. "I have confidence in you."

"Hi everyone, welcome to today's first battle!" The gym announcer says as a spotlight shines on the far end of the gym. "Please give a warm welcome to the challenger form Glacier City, Stephanie Nanami!"

Applause erupts from the crowd as a spotlight shines down on me. I wave in reply to the applause.

"Now let's make some noise and welcome the leader of the Bay View gym, Rena!"

The audience responds with loud applause and cheering as Rena, clad in what appears to be a cowgirl outfit walks to the center of the battle arena. She then looks at me and waves to me out to join her.

I walk out to her, curious about what she wants.

"I'm glad you're here." Rena begins as I approach her. "As I said yesterday our rival challenge ends here. The winner of this battle will take Hiro out on an exclusive date."

"That would be me." I reply confidently.

"Do you really think so?" Rena laughs. "Well then, do you accept the challenge?"

"You bet I do!" I say in a voice overflowing with confidence. "Let's do this!"

We both walk back to our respective trainer's boxes and prepare to begin.

"This will be a one on one Pokemon battle with no time limit. The first Pokemon to faint will loose." The announcer says as the crowd cheers loudly.

Rena looks over to me. "This town ain't big enough for the two of us." She says in a comical cowboy accent. "Me and my Pokemon here are gonna show you to the city limits before sundown."

The crowd responds with louder cheering.

"I hope Stef can win." Jas says in a slightly worried tone.

"So do I." Hiro adds softly. "I really don't want to go on a date with Rena."

"Why not, I thought you liked her." Jas asks Hiro curiously.

"That was then, but now…" He replies.

Jas looks at him curiously before tuning her attention back to the impending battle.

I look over to Rena and grab Kagura's Poke ball. "Kagura, I choose you!" I shout as I throw her Poke ball.

In a flash of light my Pidgey is out and ready to go.

"Aha, it appears that the challenger has chosen to use a Pidgey." The announcer says as Kagura flies to the center of the battle arena. "What Pokemon will the gym leader choose?" He asks the crowd.

Rena answers the question a moment later.

"Poke ball go!" She shouts, throwing the red and white ball towards the center of the battle arena.

A second flash of light reveals Rena's Pokemon, a Spheal.

"Does this Spheal look familiar?" Rena questions me curiously.

I recognize it as the one I used in the water race. "Yep, it's the one I used to beat you in the water race, right?"

"Yep, he sure is." Rena replies. "And now I'm going to use him to defeat you."

"Don't mind her Kagura; let's start this with a gust attack!" I shout to my partner.

"Pidgey pi pi!" _(Right away partner!)_ Kagura coos as she begins to rapidly flap her wings.

"Dodge it and counter with a water gun attack!" Rena shouts to her Pokemon.

Both attacks land, but don't cause much damage.

"There's a new sheriff in town." Rena begins as she tips her cowboy hat towards the crowd. "And we plumb don't like you pesky varmints."

"Never mind that, Kagura use tackle!" I shout.

"Pi Pi Pidgey Pi!" _(I won't let you down partner!)_ Kagura squawks loudly.

"Counter with icy wind!" Rena shouts as she sees Kagura begin her attack.

"Oh no!" I gasp as I see Spheal's counterattack makes a direct hit on Kagura.

"Pi Pi Pidgey!" _(Ahhh... that hurts!) _She cries in pain

"Come on Kagura, you can do it!" I shout wildly.

The small bird Pokemon staggers a bit but regains her stance. I know that she can't take much more so I have to end this quickly.

"Use your tackle attack!" I shout.

Kagura once again begins to flap her powerful wings as she prepares to attack.

"Use icy wind to finish this, I've got a date to go on." Rena says with a smirk.

"Give it all you got!" I shout. "We can't let her win this!"

"It's too late for that." Rena says maniacally. "Do it Spheal!"

Rena's Pokemon fires its attack towards Kagura, who to my surprise dodges the attack and unleashes an awesome tackle attack at the unprotected water type. It lands and flattens the Spheal who doesn't get back up.

Silence fills the arena as the crowd reacts the the scene before them.

"The winner is Stephanie Nanami from Glacier City!" The announcer says enthusiastically.

I run over to Kagura and hug her happily. "You did it!" I shout happily.

"Pidgey Pi Pi Pidgey!" _(No, we did it partner!)_ Kagura coos happily as she perches on my shoulder.

Rena walks over to me, a defeated look on her face. "Congratulations on your victory." She says as she extends her hand.

"Thank you Rena." I begin. "You were a really tough opponent, both at the beach and here."

She hands me my Hydra badge and shakes my hand once again.

"Let's hear it for Stephanie!" The announcer says happily.

The crowd applauds enthusiastically as I walk off the battle arena. As I go I pass Jas, who is on her way to the trainer's box

"Good luck Jas." I say as I give her a high five.

I join Hiro in the stands and prepare to watch Jas battle.

"Congratulations on your win." Hiro says happily as he hugs me. This time I quickly return the hug.

"So I guess it's just gonna be you and me tonight." Hiro begins.

"Yep, it sure looks that way." I reply happily.

"Umm… Stef, would you mind if I also invited Rena?" Hiro asks softly.

"But I won, not her." I protest.

"I know but I don't want to hurt her feelings." Hiro explains.

"What about my feelings." I reply sadly.

"Please don't misunderstand, I really like you but I have known Rena for a long time." He explains. "Please just do me this little favor."

"I'll consider it." I reply, turning my attention back to the battle arena where Jas has just defeated Rena.

"Yeah, Jas won!" I shout happily. "It's your turn now." I say as he gets up and heads towards the battle arena.

Jas walks back over to me and sits down.

"Awesome win!" I say happily.

"Thanks." She replies "I hope Hiro can win as well."

"Yeah, about Hiro." I reply.

"What's up?" Jas asks curiously.

"Hiro want's to take Rena with on our date tonight." I explain angrily.

"Really, why does he want to do that?" Jas questions.

"He said that he didn't want to hurt her feelings." I reply. "But what about my feelings." I add.

"Hey maybe you should let him take her." Jas begins. "After all once we leave you'll have him all to yourself."

I kinda admit that what Jas was saying made a lot of sense. "OK, I guess I'll let him bring her." I say plainly.

"Hey she's gonna need something to cheer her up." Jas begins. "Hiro just beat her too."

"Wow, three losses in a row." I reply with a sly smile, secretly happy that we all stomped her. "That's really tough." I add trying not to sound to sarcastic.

We get up and walk down to where Hiro is standing. He smiles as he shows off his Hydra badge.

"Cool, we all won!" Jas says happily as she shows off her Hydra badge.

"Hey Hiro, can I talk to you for a minute." I say as I take his hand and lead him off to the side of were we're standing.

"What's up?" He asks curiously.

"I was thinking about what you asked earlier, you know about whether Rena can come with us tonight or not." I begin softly. "It's okay with me if you want to invite her."

"Really, you're not mad?" He asks excitedly.

"No, the truth be told I'm kinda mad but I'll get over it." I reply.

"Thanks Stef, you really are a special friend." He says happily. Then he totally surprises me by leaning forward and kissing me!

"Well, well it seems I may have lost more than just the battles to you two." Rena says as she walks up to us. "Please enjoy your date tonight." She adds as she begins to walk away.

"Hey Rena, wait." Hiro says as he grabs the gym leader's shoulder. "I talked it over with Stef and we'd like you to join us tonight."

Rena smiles at the invitation. "Thanks but I cannot accept." She answers plainly. "I would just get in the way of something more important between you two." She adds with a sly smile.

"Oh yeah by the way Stef, you and I are still rivals, and I will get my revenge the next time you guys come here." Rena says with a smile before she turns and walks away.

"I'll look forward to it." I reply proudly.

_Alright this chapter is done! Thanks for reading all the way to the end. Please leave a review and let Momo-Chan and I know how you like our story. Thanks! _


	8. What Lies Next?

_Thanks to __**roxas-kh, StormDragon666, **__and __**GhostPrincess, **__also to everyone who has recently read and taken an interest in our story. I'm really happy about that and hope that you continue to enjoy my story. _

Words in _(Italics)_ represent the loose translation of a Pokemon's speech or thoughts.

_Disclaimer: _I don't own Pokemon. Nintendo and Gamefreak do. The characters in this story belong to me.

_**Chapter 8: What Lies Next? **_

Fresh off of our victories over Rena, Jas, Hiro and I prepare to head out towards our next challenge.

"So where are we going now?" I questioned Hiro curiously.

He takes out his map and after studying it for a moment looks up. "The next town is Plainfield." He begins. "The gym leader there is named Brian and he's a normal type specialist."

"Alright then, let's hit the road!" Jas says enthusiastically as she picks up her backpack and heads towards the door of the Pokemon center.

"Hey wait for us!" Hiro shouts as he and I run after our blonde haired traveling companion.

We catch back up to Jas and together head towards the road out of town. After walking for several hours we stop for lunch.

An uneasy feeling rumbles in my belly as I take notice of the dark clouds building to the west of us.

"Hey guys, I think we should keep going." I begin. "It looks like it could start to storm later." I add pointing skyward at the ominous looking clouds.

"That's still a long way from us." Jas replies. "I think we should eat first then go on."

"I agree with Jas." Hiro adds cautiously. "According to the weather it's not supposed to rain until later this evening."

So in spire of my concern we stop and begin to eat lunch. Half way through our rest stop rumbles of thunder begin to fill our ears.

Jas looks up at the dark clouds moving ever closer. "Umm…, okay, maybe Stef was right about the weather and we should get going."

"Yeah, I guess the weather was wrong." Hiro agrees as he hurriedly re-packs his food back into his backpack.

It takes us a few minutes to finally get back on the path and by then the wind is beginning to pick up.

"I think we may need to find someplace to wait out this storm." I say as the first drops of rain begin to fall around us. "How about we try that building over there?" I say, pointing to an abandoned looking structure.

"That looks sorta creepy Stef; sure you wanna go in there?" Jas says in a slightly alarmed tone.

"I saw a small town on the map; it's just up the road." Hiro says loudly as the wind speed continues to increase.

"I don't think we'll make it!" I shout. My point is reinforced a few minutes later as heavy rain begins to fall.

We all make a mad dash for the buildings door, hoping that it's unlocked. Hiro reaches it first and much to our relief it opens and we walk inside.

I glance over to a totally soaked Jas and begin to laugh.

"What's so funny?' She queries curiously.

"You should see yourself." I begin. "You look like you just went swimming."

"Well you don't look much better." Jas retorts. "Guess we should have listened to you, huh."

"Guess so." I reply simply. "Hey Hiro, how far is this town?"

"It's about a mile and a half from here." He answers.

"Do they have a Pokemon center there?" Jas asks curiously.

"No, but I saw an advertisement for a hotel with a spa." He replies. "At the very minimum we'll be able to get cleaned up and dry out our clothes.

"You said they have a spa?" I ask curiously.

"Yep, it's supposed to be quite nice too." Hiro replies. "At least that's what the brochure said."

The swiftly moving summer storm lasts for about half an hour before moving on. We step out from our temporary refuge and once again begin to walk down the path towards the town. It takes us about 35 minutes to finally arrive at the town.

"Hmm, the name of this place is Grenzhof." I begin, looking at the quaint sign at the beginning of the city. "That's kind of a weird name don't you think?"

"No, I think it sounds sorta cool." Hiro says as we continue walking towards the hotel. "The hotel should be just up ahead." He adds, pointing towards a large red brick building.

"Well the suspense is killing me and so are these wet clothes." Jas says as she begins to hurry down the street.

Hiro walks over beside me. "Sorry for not listening to you about the weather." He says apologetically.

"Don't worry about it." I reply. "I hope this hotel is everything it claims to be."

"This place looks like a ghost town." Jas says as we near the hotel's entrance.

"Are you sure anyone even lives in this town?" I question curiously.

"I'll don't know." Hiro says defensively. "Let's go inside and see, OK."

"OK, OK, no need to get mad." Jas replies as she pushes the door open.

Inside we are greeted by an older woman sitting behind a large wooden counter.

"Hello, and welcome to the Peach Inn." She says as we walk up to the counter. "Will you be requiring rooms for the evening?"

"Yep, three rooms if you have that many available." Jas answers politely.

The woman takes a moment and looks at the hotels register. "I'm sorry; we only have two rooms free. Perhaps you two young ladies could share a room?"

Jas and I look at each other and smile. "Yeah, we can share a room." I say happily. "It'll be fun."

After getting signed in we head up to our respective rooms to change. We agree to meet back in the lobby in an hour or so and check out the spa.

"I'm gonna grab a shower first." Jas says as she heads into the bathroom and closes the door.

While I wait for my turn I take out Kagura and Wildfire's Poke balls. "You two are super." I say softly. "I know we're going to be famous some day."

After my shower I change into my swimsuit and put my hair up into a ponytail. Together with Jas, I then head down to the lobby to meet up with Hiro.

"Are you guys ready to check out the spa?" He asks curiously as we approach.

"You bet we are!" Jas says enthusiastically.

We walk into the spa room and find that there are two separate spas, one for girls and one for boys. Jas and I walk into the girl's spa and step into the warm water.

"Ahhh, this feels so good." I say as I stretch out in the pools warm waters. "I'm glad Hiro found this place, aren't you?"

"Yeah, it's nice." Jas begins. "It's nice to take a break like this every once and a while." She adds before dunking her head under the water.

We relax in the spa for the next hour. Afterwards we get changed and head out to find someplace to eat.

"If you're looking for a good place to eat I recommend Rosie's Restaurant just down the street." The hotels receptionist says with a smile. "They have good food and it's not expensive." She adds.

"Thanks for the tip." Hiro says before turning to us. "Shall we try it?" He asks curiously.

"Why not, sounds like a good place after all." I reply. "Let's go!"

So with that in mind we head out of the hotel and down the street to the restaurant. Walking inside we find the place done out in a Pokemon motif. A middle aged looking woman with short red hair walks over to us and smiles.

"Welcome to Rosie's Restaurant, My name is Yoko, please follow me." She says in a friendly tone.

We sit down at a table and Yoko takes our orders.

"Thanks, I'll get these up right away." She says happily before heading towards the kitchen.

It takes 15 minutes for Yoko to return with our food. She smiles as she places the plates in front of us.

"Enjoy you're meal!" She says happily.

"What did you get?" Jas asks me curiously.

"I got shrimp ramen soup." I reply. "It's one of my favorites."

I look at Hiro's plate curiously, noticing that it's full of vegetables. "What did you get Hiro?" I ask curiously.

"It's a steamed vegetable platter." He replies. "Wanna try some?" He adds, holding a carrot out to me.

"Eww, that's gross!" I reply loudly causing both Jas and Hiro to eye me curiously.

"I take it you don't like vegetables." Hiro says as he begins to eat.

"No I don't." I reply plainly.

"But I've seen you eat broccoli and beef before." Jas interjects. "You seemed to like that."

"Broccoli is about the only veggie that I do like. That and cauliflower." I reply. "All the others are nasty."

Both Jas and Hiro chuckle at my comment before digging in.

After finishing eating we head back to the hotel and decide to call it an early evening.

The next morning I awake to the sounds of Jas snoring in the bed across from me. Looking at the clock I notice that it's just after 7 in the morning. Grabbing a pillow I throw it at her head.

"Ahhh…, what the hell was that for?" Jas questions as she looks at me angrily. "I was sleeping so nicely too."

"Yeah, but you were snoring like a buzz saw." I say loudly. "You woke me up so I woke you up, that's all." I add plainly.

"Couldn't you have done that without hitting me with a pillow?" Jas asks me curiously.

"I suppose I could have, but it wouldn't have been as funny." I laugh back at her.

After getting dressed we head down to the lobby to meet Hiro. Together we walk into the hotels breakfast corner and sit down.

"So where are we off to today?" I ask curiously, poring myself some cereal.

"Get ready to do some battling today." Hiro begins. "We're headed to an area known as the bug valley."

"Someplace called the bug valley?" Jas repeats hesitantly. "I guess it's full of bug types."

"Oh, I nice grasp of the obvious Jas." I tease. "Did it take you long to figure out that someplace called bug valley would have bug type Pokemon."

"Shut up Nanami." Jas retorts angrily. "I suppose you'd have thought it might have water type Pokemon or something like that."

Jas and I glare at each other for a few moments then turn our attention back to our breakfast.

"Yep, it should be a good place to practice since all our Pokemon are good against bug types." Hiro says happily.

We finish our breakfast and after paying the hotel bill head out towards the bug valley. The area we walk in is forested and the path is threaded through the large trees.

"Look, a Spinarak!" I say excitedly pointing to the spider Pokemon hanging on its web. 'I'm gonna battle it." I add as I grab Kagura's Poke ball.

As I get ready to battle Jas takes out her Pokedex and aims it at the bug type.

"_Spinarak, the spider Pokemon, Spinarak is a dual type Pokemon bug and poison. Male, current level is 9, health good, and status OK."_

"Alright Kagura, let's do this!" I squeal excitedly. "Poke ball go!" I add tossing Kagura's Poke ball.

In a flash my Pidgey partner appears and gets ready to face off against the bug type. The Spinarak too prepares its self for the coming battle.

"OK Kagura, use your gust attack!" I shout.

"Kick its ass!" Jas shouts loudly as she recalls the time that a Spinarak mummified her.

Kagura starts to beat her wings rapidly, building energy for the attack. Her opponent doesn't hesitate and fires off a string shot attack.

"Dodge it and counter attack!" I shout as I watch the battle unfold.

Kagura's gust attack finds its mark and the Spinarak is knocked off its web. However this bug Pokemon is determined and fires off a poison sting attack in defense. The attack hits Kagura dead on.

"Pi Pi Pidgey Pi!" _(Ahhh, that hurt!)_ She squawks loudly.

"Hang in there!" I say, hoping to encourage her. "Use your gust attack again!"

"Pidgey Pi Pi!" _(This is the end for you!)_ She caws angrily before firing off a powerful blast of wind at the bug Pokemon. The effect is immediate as the Spinarak attempts to regain its feet but it can't and simply faints.

"Yeah, we did it!" I shout as Kagura flies over to me and perches on my shoulder.

"Here, spray some of this on Kagura." Hiro says as he hands me a bottle of potion. "It will help her to recover from that poison sting attack."

"Thanks Hiro." I say as I take the bottle and mist Kagura with it. I then return her to her Poke ball.

"Nice job Stef." Jas says as she walks over to me. "I hate Spinarak after what that one did to me."

"I don't know Jas; I thought it was a good look for you." I say jokingly. She just glares back at me without saying a word.

We walk for only about 10 more minutes before running into the next challenge. This time it's a level 9 Weedle.

"It's my turn now!" Jas says as she grabs Kanna's Poke ball and throws it.

Jas's Seel appears seconds later looking eager to fight.

"Attack that Weedle with head butt!" Jas commands.

"Seel Seel!" _(You got it partner!)_ Her Pokemon squeals as she launches herself towards the wormlike Pokemon.

"I just hope that there aren't any Beedrill around." I say as Hiro and I watch our friend battle.

"I didn't see any Kakuna, so I think we're safe." Hiro replies as he looks around.

We turn our attention back to the battle just in time to see Jas's Seel land the final hit.

"Cool, you won." I say to her as she returns her Pokemon. "Next up is Hiro."

"Yeah, and remember to cheer loudly for your boyfriend when he does battle." Jas teases me playfully.

Continuing on we encounter and battle several more wild bug types. Hiro lets Jas and I battle them saying that he's waiting for a trainer to battle. The up side to this is that Jas's Seel gains level 15, Wildfire gains level 16, and Kagura gains level 12.

We walk for another couple of miles before finally encountering some trainers willing to battle.

"Alright Hiro, show them what you got!" I cheer loudly as he prepares to face off against a blue haired girl named Lisa.

"It's our turn now." He shouts, removing a Poke ball from his belt and throwing it.

A bright flash and Hiro's Meowth appears, ready and raring to go. Lisa also throws a Poke ball, revealing a Scyther as their opponent.

I take out my Pokedex and record Lisa's Scyther.

"_Scyther, the mantas Pokemon, Scyther is a dual type bug and flying. Female, current level is 16, health good, and status OK." _

"Oh, this is going to be good." I say excitedly.

…_Oh yes, evil cliffhanger! Anyway we have ideas for the next chapter so it shouldn't take so long to post. Please take a moment to write a review and let me know what you think of my story. Thanks a ton! _


	9. Stef's Rival

_Thank you __**roxas-kh**__ for your review of the last chapter, I really appreciate any and all feedback! _

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Pokemon but I do own the characters that were created for this story. _

_**Chapter 9: Stef's Rival **_

"Poke ball go!" Hiro shouted as he threw his partners Poke ball. A burst of bright bluish light appears momentarily. It quickly dissipates revealing Hiro's Meowth, ready to battle.

Lisa laughs and releases her Pokemon, a powerful looking Scyther. As both trainers square off for battle I lean over to Jas. "Oh, this is gonna be good!"

"Scyther, use double team!" Lisa commands loudly.

"Meowth counter with your scratch attack!" Hiro shouts to his partner.

Hiro's Meowth sprints towards the multiple Scythers' standing before him. He reaches the first one and swipes at it violently only to discover that it is just an image created by the double team attack.

"Now Scyther, use your quick attack!" Lisa shouts to her Pokemon, trying to take advantage of Meowth's confusion.

"Meowth, look out!" Hiro shouts desperately. Unfortunaly his warning is a bit too late and Meowth takes the full force of Scyther's attack.

Hiro's Meowth is tossed back by the violence of the attack; however he quickly regains his stance and prepares to counter attack.

Hiro breaths a sigh of relief as he watches his partner stand back up and get ready to fight. "Alright Meowth, now counterattack with flash!" Hiro commands loudly.

Meowth stops and focuses his energy. A moment later a blinding flash blazes across the battlefield causing Lisa's Scyther to become temporally blinded.

"Now use fury swipes!" Hiro instructs.

Meowth does as instructed and repeatedly attacks the large bug type Pokemon with a powerful series of swiping attacks. The attack is effective but not enough to end the battle.

"Come on Scyther; use your fury cutter attack!" Lisa shouts angrily. "We can still win this."

Both Pokemon face off in several more attacks, leaving both weakened to the point of fainting.

"The next attack will decide the outcome." I say to Jas. "Come on Meowth, you can do it!" I add loudly, hoping my words of encouragement would be enough.

Meowth and Scyther stand defiantly in front of each other waiting for the command to attack from their trainers.

"Go Meowth, use fury swipes!" Hiro commands loudly.

A split second later Lisa commands her Scyther to attack Hiro's meowth with its fury cutter attack.

The two Pokemon clash resulting in a blinding cloud of dust and as the dust settles the winner of the battle has been determined.

Lisa looks dejected as she recalls her fainted Scyther. "You did your best, thank you." She coos before giving the Poke ball a quick kiss. She then turns and faces a grinning Hiro.

"Here, this is for your win." The girl says as she hands Hiro several bills. "I hope that you will give me a chance to win that back in the future."

"Sure, why not." Hiro replies as he accepts the money.

"Well, I'm not very impressed." A girl says as she steps forward.

She appears to be slightly taller than me and has brown hair streaked with red accents, her hair descends to the middle of her back. She looks directly at me with her sparkling bluegreen eyes as she steps forward. "My partner and I could have defeated you easily."

"Oh really, and who might you be?" I question curiously, slightly annoyed by her apparent arrogance.

"The names Aurora Young and you are?" She replies curtly.

"Stephanie Nanami." I answer proudly.

"So, now that the introductions are out of the way, let's battle." Aurora says with a grin. "Come on; show me what you've got!"

"It's our turn now, Go Wildfire!" I shout as I throw her Poke ball.

"Blaze, I choose you!" Aurora says as she too tosses a red and white ball into the air.

In a flash of blinding light both Pokemon appear. They both quickly take up battle postures and glare at each other, anticipating the battle to come.

I look at our opponent curiously and pause a moment to record its data in my Pokedex.

"Quilava, a fire type Pokemon. Quilava is the second evolution of Cyndaquil. This Pokemon is a male, currently at level 18 and is in good health. Its current status is perfect."

"Let's go Blaze, use your ember attack!" Aurora commands loudly.

Her Pokemon rears back and fires off a blast of red hot glowing embers directly at Wildfire. The attack catches both Wildfire and me off guard, resulting in a direct hit. This normally would have resulted in a lot of damage but since she chose to use a fire type attack it does little harm to my Ponyta.

"Ha!" I laugh loudly. "Why would anyone use a fire attack on a fire type Pokemon?"

Judging by how red her face becomes it is apparent that Aurora doesn't seem to like my comment. However, before she can launch another attack I command Wildfire to use her tackle attack.

"Yeah, that's it!" I cheer as I watch Wildfire's attack hit Aurora's Pokemon squarely, tossing the smaller fire type several feet.

"Again, do that again!" I command. "Hit him while he's still stunned!"

"Look out Blaze!" Aurora calls in desperation as Wildfire bears down on her Pokemon. Her warning is too late, as my partner scores another direct hit, causing her Pokemon to stagger slightly before regaining its footing.

"Looks like we've got this wrapped up." I say happily and turn to Jas, giving her thumbs up sign.

I regretted that a moment later as Aurora uses that moment to have her Quilava use his rollout attack.

I watch as Quilava's attack scores a direct hit on my Pokemon partner.

"No, try to dodge it!" I shout as the smaller fire type attacks once again. "Look out!"

Aurora's Pokemon uses its smaller size to maneuver and attack Wildfire in spite of her attempts to evade. It takes only a few blurred attacks by Aurora's Quilava to leave Wildfire on her side, unable to continue.

"What just happened?" I mutter softly, staring at my defeated Pokemon in disbelief. "We lost."

"See, I told you we'd defeat you." Aurora says with a smirk. "I did hope that you would have been a bit more of a challenge though."

I run over to Wildfire and wrap my arms around her. "You did your best." I coo softly. "Return to your Poke ball and have a well deserved rest." I add before pointing her Poke ball and pressing the button.

"Hey you OK?" Jas asks me as I return to where they are standing. "Are you crying?"

"No!" I reply defiantly. "I just got something in my eye, that's all."

"It's alright you know, this was your first loss after all." Jas says compassionately. "We understand how you feel right now."

"HA, don't tell me that was your first loss!" Aurora chimes in loudly. "You must have battled some pretty pathetic trainers then." She adds in an arrogant voice.

"Yeah, so what is it to you anyway if it is my first loss." I retort loudly. "Go gloat somewhere else OK!"

"My my, aren't we sensitive." Aurora says in a somewhat softer tone. "I didn't mean to sound like an ass or anything." She adds as she walks over to me.

"What do you want now?" I question as she draws nearer to me. "By the way, here's the money for your win." I add, handing her 3 10 dollar bills.

The brown haired girl accepts the money form my hand and gives me a smile. "You know, I like you." She begins. "I'll make you a deal, defeat me in another battle and I'll give you double the normal winner's reward."

I consider the offer for a moment, looking to Jas and Hiro for some kind of hint as to what I should do. Finally Hiro nods his head in approval.

"OK, you've got a deal." I reply plainly. "But I don't want to battle anymore today, so let's meet again another time."

"Well, I've got a date to defeat the gym leader in this town later this week, but after that I'm free." Aurora answers. "Let's meet then."

"That's fine with me!" I reply. "But I'm going to defeat the gym leader before you." I add. "We're seeing him day after tomorrow."

"Is that so?" Aurora replies directly. "In that case from now on we're rivals."

"Yeah whatever you say." I retort. "I'll defeat this gym leader and then you, just watch and see!"

'Oh I'll watch all right." Aurora says plainly. "I'll watch you loose to Brian and then to me. See ya then!" She adds before turning on her heels and walking away.

I knew that defeating Aurora wasn't going to be easy, but I have confidence in my Pokemon and together I know we can defeat her. So with new purpose in my stride I re-joined my traveling companions and headed towards Plainfield and my next gym challenge.


End file.
